Group Attribution Bias

Group attribution error is the human tendency to believe that an individual’s characteristics always follow the beliefs of a group that they belong to or that a group’s decisions reflects the feelings of all of the members of the group. This can lead to assumptions about behaviors and beliefs along with stereotypical thinking. A common example of this is political parties: even though a political party has a general “platform” of beliefs and goals, individual members of the party are free to have their own opinions about the issues involved. But oftentimes if someone identifies with a particular political party others will believe they share the exact beliefs and ideals of the overarching political party, even if they have their own personal beliefs and nuances.


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