Actor-Observer Effect

The Actor-Observer Effect is a psychological tendency where people interpret their own actions differently from others'. When someone makes a mistake, they often blame external factors or circumstances, but when others make the same mistake, they tend to attribute it to that person's character or lack of ability. This bias helps protect our self-esteem by seeing our actions as influenced by external factors, while judging others’ actions as evidence of their personality. It highlights how perspective shapes our understanding of behavior, often leading to different explanations depending on whether we are the actor or the observer.