Actor-observer bias occurs when a person attributes another person’s behavior to their personality, but justify their own behavior as a result of situational factors. This phenomenon penetrates many aspects of our day-to-day life. For example, a physician might consider an overweight patient as lazy and unmotivated, but will attribute his own obesity to the long hours and intensity of his job. This bias tends to diminish with friends and family because we know more about their history, motivations, personality, and circumstances.