Empathy and attribution: Turning observers into actors.

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Abstract
Tested E. E. Jones and R. E. Nisbett's (1971) information-processing explanation of the often-observed tendency for individuals (actors) to provide relatively more situational and less dispositional causal attributions for their behavior than those provided by observers of the same behavior. According to this explanation, aspects of the situation are phenomenologically more salient for actors, whereas characteristics of the actor and his behavior are more salient for observers. To test this explanation, the phenomenological perspective of observers was altered without making available any additional information. 40 female undergraduates watched a videotape of a get-acquainted conversation after instructions either to observe a target conversant or to emphasize with her. As predicted, taking the perspective of the target through empathy resulted in attributions that were relatively more situational and less dispositional than attributions provided by standard observers. Results support Jones and Nisbett and shed additional light on the process of empathy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

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