Understand why the same thing keeps happening
When to use
You've noticed the same problem, conflict, or outcome repeating and want an honest explanation.
What you'll get
A behavioral explanation for the pattern that doesn't rely on external factors, an honest outside view, and a third-person reframe.
The prompt
I keep experiencing the following pattern: [DESCRIBE THE RECURRING SITUATION OR OUTCOME]. The explanations I've given myself: [YOUR CURRENT EXPLANATIONS].
A few things worth knowing before you respond:
- We apply the same attribution error to our own lives that we apply to others': we attribute our outcomes to circumstances and our behavior seems like a reasonable response to those circumstances. The pattern that's hardest to see is the consistent thing we keep doing across all the different circumstances.
- We also tend to notice and remember the episodes that confirm our current explanation, and forget or minimise the ones that complicate it.
Challenge my explanations: what consistent behavior on my part — visible across all these instances — could explain this outcome without requiring the circumstances to be the primary cause? What would someone who knew me well but was willing to be completely honest say about this pattern? And if I described this exact pattern in someone else, what would you think was going on?Why this prompt works
The third-person question is the most powerful. We apply the Fundamental Attribution Error far less to other people's recurring patterns — we can see the behavior where we would excuse our own as circumstantial.
The psychology behind this
Confirmation Bias
Read the full experiment →51_confirmation_bias.mdThe Fundamental Attribution Error
Read the full experiment →17_fundamental_attribution_error.mdSelf-Perception Theory
Read the full experiment →48_self_perception_theory.md