People over-attribute behavior to character rather than situational pressures.

Evidence

This insight about human behavior clashes with deeply held everyday intuitions; people tend to think of these behaviors as a reliable reflection of personality dispositions. There is a term for this flawed intuition, of course—social psychologists call it the fundamental attribution error. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 152

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the fundamental attribution error — the naive intuition the chapter’s salience account overturns.
• XREF: connects to: Social norms exercise overwhelming force over even trained observers of behavior — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1507; People and situations mutually influence each other rather than situations acting one-way on people — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide: The Social…, 354; People over-attribute others’ behavior to personality and underweight situational constraints — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide: The Social…, 356 (+2 more)