The Fundamental Fundamental Attribution Error: Correspondence Bias in Individualist and Collectivist Cultures

Abstract

A growing body of research suggests that cultures differ in the tendency to prefer dispositional or situational explanations for behavior. However, little work has examined whether cultural differences exist in the tendency to infer that people’s dispositions correspond to their behavior (the correspondence bias). Two experiments, one using the attitude attribution paradigm and one using the quizmaster paradigm, investigated the correspondence bias in individualist and collectivist cultures. As predicted, significant correspondence bias effects were found in both cultures. Moreover, no cultural difference emerged. Explanations and implications are discussed.