In a simple way, the fundamental attribution error happens when people observe and then judge the negative actions of others. In doing so, the observer often underestimates the social pressures that cause the other person to act in such a way.
A good and simple example of the fundamental attribution error can happen like this:
On a specific day a waitress is talking rudely to her customers. The customers now think that she is a really bad person. What the customers don't realize is that usually most people find the waitress friendly but today the waitress is experiencing one of the hardest days in her life. Her husband just left her for another woman, and she just lost her son in a car wreck. If the customers were aware of the problems the waitress just had, they actually wouldn't mind her negative attitude as much considering her current state.
So the error was the customers assuming the waitress is a much worse person than she really is. Or that she is always a rude waitress.
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It is often easy to underestimate the pressure young people go through just so they can be accepted among their peers. I have seen adults call young teens stupid for smoking at 15. The fundamental attribution error in here is this: These teens are not stupid, many of them are actually quite smart and get good grades in school. The reason they picked up smoking at such a young age was simply to be accepted by their peers who also smoke. This does not mean smoking is good for them, it just means there is an error of perception when an outsider judges the teen's actions. The outsider does this without taking in to account the pressures that are causing the teen to act this