The Fundamental Attribution Error - Follow the Science

In this third conversation with Professor Michaéla Schippers, we delve into a fascinating psychological phenomenon: the fundamental attribution error. This refers to the human tendency to attribute other people's behavior to their personality or intentions, while often underestimating the influence of external circumstances.

The fundamental attribution error is the tendency to attribute behavior to someone's personality rather than external factors. This bias influences how scientists like John Ioannidis are perceived. During the COVID-19 pandemic, his criticism of lockdowns was praised by skeptics, but his recent study: global estimates of lives and life-years saved by the COVID-19 vaccination 2020 2024, which implies the life-saving impact of vaccines gained him a backlash from the same group.

This demonstrates how science is often judged based on the person behind it, leading to polarization and distorted debates. To evaluate science fairly, it is essential to separate the message from the messenger.

Michaéla Schippers was with her 9-year-old son Mike in the United States, California during an exciting time: Halloween festivities and the 2024 presidential elections. The aim of the visit was Stanford University, and to work on scientific papers with prof. John Ioannidis.

While there we recorded two zoom conversations; One about her scientific work, the other one about what psychological process may have helped the big win for Donald Trump. A third one (this one) is about the Fundamental Attribution Error.

On Follow the Science: https://followthescience.nl/interviews/the-fundamental-attribution-error-science-and-perception