Are people who steal “bad people”? What should we make of the fact that groceries, including infant formula, are among the most shoplifted items, and that shoplifting of groceries increases when unemployment is high? Research on the correspondence bias suggests that it is easy to blame people’s outcomes on their dispositions, such as stupidity and criminality, and difficult to consider the ways in which they might be victims of their situations.

PHOTO BY DENIS CLOSON/REX/REX USA (793636E)