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Actor–Observer Asymmetry
“For your behavior, you know the context; for someone else's, you mainly see the action.”
01 / SUMMARY
In short
The classic claim held that people explain their own actions through situations and others' actions through traits. A meta-analysis found no general difference; narrower asymmetries appear with valence, familiarity, and explanation type.
03 / SCENE
In the wild
You may explain your silence by fatigue and another person's by reserve, but that contrast does not appear reliably across all behavior.
04 / LIMIT
The limit
It is not a universal fact that every actor excuses themselves and every observer blames character.
FINAL NOTE
What remains
Seek the same information about intention, history, and constraints for both people before comparing causes.