Don't Blame Character When the Situation Explains Everything

When someone cuts you off in traffic, you think they're a jerk. When you cut someone off, it's because you're late and stressed. This is the fundamental attribution error: we explain other people's behavior by their personality and our own by circumstances. Recognizing this pattern makes you slower to judge and faster to understand. The person who was rude to you might just be having the worst day of their life.