![]() ![]() The American Psychological Association (APA) Dictionary defines “Actor observer bias refers to a person’s tendency to attribute his or her own actions to external causes while attributing other people’s behaviors to internal causes.” It’s a type of attributional bias that plays a role in how we perceive and interact with other people. Academic Definitions of Actor Observer Bias The same event – spilling coffee – is attributed to different causes, depending on whether you’re the one directly involved in the situation (the actor) or observing it from a distance (the observer). This is a clear illustration of the actor-observer bias at play. Meanwhile, Alex, as the ‘observer,’ attributes Sam’s mistake to dispositional factors – his perceived clumsiness and carelessness In this story, Sam, as the ‘actor,’ attributes his mistake to situational factors – the crowd and the pressure. He should have been more careful while serving the customers.” He thinks, “Sam is always so clumsy and careless. Alex, who witnessed the incident from behind the counter, interprets Sam’s actions differently. ![]() He thinks, “I’m usually not so clumsy, but the cafe was so crowded, and I was trying to attend to too many customers at once.” He quickly apologizes, attributing his mistake to the overwhelming number of customers and the pressure of rush hour. One particularly hectic day, Sam accidentally spills a cup of coffee on a customer’s table. Imagine two friends, Sam and Alex, both working at a busy coffee shop.
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