To summarize, there’s one situational variable that always biases our evaluations of people: every time we see them doing something, they’re doing it in our presence, and for all we know they behave differently around or toward other people. But it makes sense—in a self-serving way—for us to ignore this variable and attribute the behavior we see to their disposition. That way we’ll see them as possessing the essence—good or bad—that it’s most in our interest to see them possessing. Conveniently, our friends and allies will have essence-of-good, and our rivals and enemies will have
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