Two studies were reported in which a mean trait attribution pattern parallel to the Jones-Nisbett actor-observer effect was obtained within subjects when people were asked to describe what they were like in the past, are like now, and will be like in the future. This argues in favor of the perspective or salience explanation of the actor-observer phenomenon. Both temporal and role defined actor-observer differences, while statistically significant, were due to a minority of subjects. This minority did not differ from the majority on measures of locus of control and self-consciousness. Problems and implications were discussed briefly.
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