Tilleiðingarvilla

Tilleiðingarvilla, often translated as "attribution error" or "attributional bias," refers to a cognitive bias in psychology that describes how individuals explain the causes of their own behavior and the behavior of others. It suggests that people tend to attribute their successes to internal, dispositional factors (such as their own abilities or personality) while attributing their failures to external, situational factors (such as bad luck or unfair circumstances). Conversely, when explaining the behavior of others, individuals often attribute their successes to external factors and their failures to internal, dispositional factors. This bias serves to protect self-esteem and maintain a positive self-image.

This phenomenon is closely related to the fundamental attribution error, which specifically concerns the tendency to overemphasize dispositional explanations for others' behavior while underemphasizing situational explanations. The actor-observer bias is another related concept, highlighting the difference in attribution between oneself as the actor and others as observers. Understanding these attributional biases is crucial in social psychology for comprehending interpersonal judgments, prejudice, and group dynamics. They can lead to misunderstandings and conflict when individuals perceive the same situation differently due to these inherent biases in their causal explanations.