*Correspondence Bias Experiment
The study examines under what conditions Western participants might be persuaded to consider important
situational factors.
-Example of correspondence bias: individuals see a person doing something, and tend to assume that
they are doing this more because this is “how they are.” This is a result of the internal disposition, rather
than the external environmental situational factors.
-Learning Outcome: Discuss two errors in attributions
Riggs, Gumbrecht (2005)
Aim:
The aim of this study was to replicate previous research suggesting that people tended to have a
correspondence bias in an emotionally charged situation in post 9/11 circumstances.
Methods:
Participants:
The participants consisted of 96 males and females. They spanned a ranged of 18-21 years of age, and
where mostly Caucasian and Christian.
Methodology:
They were originally told that the experiment was researching impression formation, and were randomly
assigned to eight different experimental conditions, being tested individually or in small groups.
The testing consisted of participants making judgments on the sincerity of student essays about reactions
to 9/11 attacks and the conditions included the variables:
-Pro- or anti-American nature of the essay (John Miller was the Anti-American
writer and Mohammed Fatah was the Pro-American writer)
-The pseudonyms of the students were either John Miller or Mohammed Fatah
-Whether essay topics were chosen or assigned between the children
The pros and cons within the essay were similar in length, argument, and writing style (i.e. tone,
vocabulary etc.)
Participants answered a questionnaire using a Likert scale. The questionnaire was used to assess the
participant’s true feelings on the students writing the essay.
Results:
Contrary to previous studies, the only influential variable was whether the essay was written under either
the pseudonym John Miller or Mohammed Fatah. Variables such as whether or not the essay topic was
assigned or chosen had no effect on participants’ ratings. An extreme use of correspondence bias was
observed when participants were reading John Miller essays; regardless of situational factors.
Correspondence bias disappeared when participants were reading the Mohammed Fatah essays;
situational factors were more influential regardless of whether the essay was pro- or anti-American. Also
researchers concluded that results were due to several factors, including:
-Participants who read the essay of “Mohammed Fatah” were concerned with appearing
prejudiced. At the time, media campaigns occurred in an attempt to avoid generalizing
terrorist activity to all Muslims, which may have been a beneficial factor.
-Unrealistic expectations of participants reading John Miller essays affected perceptions.
It is possible that American participants could not imagine writing an anti-American
essay and so ignored the fact that John Miller was assigned to take a con position.
Strengths:
-Results supported by method triangulation of previous studies
-Structured questionnaires help to standardize responses
-Questionnaires are a relatively simple and quick approach to attitudes, beliefs, and motives.
Limitations:
-Sample limits population validity by only including a percentage of universal populations
-This is not cross-culturally applicable. The events of 9/11 are very hard to replicate, and only
happened once. The feelings of Americans towards 9/11 differ from those anywhere else in the
world. It was very personal seeing that it occurred within their nation.
-The presence of others in group conditions introduces social desirability bias. For example, if an
individual who was prejudiced against Muslims was tested in a small group who was not, he/she
would most likely tend to agree with the rest of the group.
-Participants may feel their answers are not anonymous and may not be truthful with their
answers
Levels of Analysis:
-Socio-cultural: The culture that the participants were exposed to (including media coverage of
9/11 and anti-prejudice campaigns).
-Biological: Brain activity/ hormones/ neurotransmission
-Cognitive: Perception of sincerity of essays