Hedonistic relevance

In psychology and cognitive science, hedonistic relevance is an observer's tendency to attribute a behavior to a person's disposition (rather than to their situation) when the behavior negatively affects the observer, their property, or those close to them. The effect of hedonistic relevance is to hold a person responsible for an event that might well have been outside their control; for example, if John trips and spills red wine on Jack's new white carpet, Jack will likely hold him personally responsible, even if Jack's uneven floor was the reason John tripped.

Hedonistic relevance is an example of an attributional bias.

See also

• Actor-observer bias
• Fundamental attribution error