The fundamental attribution error makes a late coworker look irresponsible because character is easier to imagine than context.
See 1 missed arrival and your brain may supply a personality story before it asks what happened.
A train delay, a sick child, or a broken alarm can disappear behind the simpler label: careless.
That shortcut creates misunderstandings because it treats a situation as a trait.
Pause before the judgment hardens. The person may still be accountable, but the cause might not be who they are.