Answer to Question 1
Behavior is often caused by a combination of internal and external factors, but situational factors are the sole determinants of behavior in certain circumstances. Regardless of how capable and motivated an employee might be, for example, if the employee does not have the proper resources to accomplish a task, she or he will not be able to perform at a high level. Despite the fact that external factors often determine behavior, people have a very strong tendency to attribute other people's behavior to internal factors. Because this tendency to overattribute other people's behavior to internal rather than to external causes is so basic to human nature, it has been called the fundamental attribution error.
Why does the fundamental attribution error occur? Researchers have offered two explanations. According to the first, which concentrates on perception of the target's behavior, when we observe a person behaving, we focus on the person, and the situation is simply the background for the behavior. Because the person is the focus of our thinking and the situation receives little attention, we tend to think that something about the person prompted the behavior. According to the second reason for the occurrence of the fundamental attribution error, we often are simply unaware of all the situational factors that may be responsible for the behavior we observe.
Answer to Question 2
D
