Read this interesting story at Human Relations class taught by Prof. Teo... Please read through and answer the question at the end of this story =)

The husband soon tired of this arrangement. Restless and lonely, he would take the next ferry into town each evening and develop relationships with a series of lovers. Anxious to preserve his marriage, he always returned home before his wife. In fact, his relationships were always limited. When they threatened to become to intense, he would precipitate a quarrel with his current lover and begin a new relationship.

One night the husband caused such a quarrel with a woman we will call Lover I. Lover 1 slammed the door in this face, and he started back to the ferry. Suddenly he realised that he had forgotten to bring money for his return fare. After all, he did have to get home. But Lover I was vindictive and angry because of the quarrel. She slammed the door on her former lover, leaving him with no money. The husband then remembered that a previous lover, whom we shall call Lover II, live just a few doors away. Surely she would give him the ferry fare. However Lover II was still so hurt from their old quarrel that she, too, refused him the money.

Now the hour was late and the husband was getting desperate. He rushed down to the ferry and pleaded with the ferryboat captain. The captain knew him as a regular customer. He asked if he could let him ride free and if he could pay the next night. But the captain insisted that rules were rules and that he could not let him ride without paying the fare.

Dawn would soon be breaking, and his wife would be returning from work. The husband remembered that there was a free bridge about a mile further on. But the road to the bridge was a dangerous one, known to be frequented by highwaymen. Nonetheless, he had to get home, so he took the road. On the way a highwayman stepped out of the bushes and demanded money. He told the highwayman that he had none. The highwayman seized him. In the ensuing tussle, the highwayman stabbed the husband, and he died.

Thus ends our story. There have been six characters: Husband, Wife, Lover I, Lover II, Ferryboat Captain and Highwayman. Please list, in descending order or responsibility for the husband's death, all the characters. In other words, the one most responsible is listed first; the next most responsible, second; and so forth.

Anaylsis of our answers during class: 

During our lesson, there were four groups participating in the discussion. I am in Group 3. While Group 3 and 4 had the same story as above, Group 1 and 2 had another story where positions of wife and husband is switched (Husband works at night, Wife looks for affairs elsewhere and is murdered).

Personally, I ranked in descending order as: Husband, Wife, Highwaymen, Lover I and Lover II, Ferryboat Captain. My answer is very different from my group members. All three of them (all guys) ranked highwaymen as the first. As a group effort, we finally reached consensus: Highwaymen, Husband, Wife, Lover I and Lover II, Ferryboat Captain. Answers for 4 groups are as below:

The fact that all of us ranked the victim (Wife for Group 1, 2 and Husband for Group 3, 4) as second shows certain degree of fundamental attribution error. Fundamental attribution error is the tendency for people to blame the "victim" of an accident (for example, people tend to blame the girl who is the victim of a rape incident instead of the rapist). Since we were only discussing the murder, the victims should not have any responsibility and only the murderer (highwayman) has to assume full responsibility. However, we did rank highwayman as the first, which shows our errors are not so great. Looking back at my own answer, I have definitely made a classic fundamental attribution error by ranking Husband as the first.

Another interesting fact of our answers is for Group 1 and 2, they ranked Husband as the last but for our Group 3 and 4, we ranked Wife (which is in the similar position as husband in Group 1 and 2's story) as third. It did show certain degree of gender bias. We all perceive that Wife should be the one to take care of the husband. Thus, when wife is out for work and neglect the husband, she should have responsibility for his disloyalty and even death in this case. However, we all can accept that male (husband) is the breadwinner of a family. When he is out for work and neglect the wife, he do not have responsibility for his wife's behaviour and the death of his wife is all her own fault.

What's your answer? Did you commit any fundamental attribution error or gender bias?