Identities, Attributions, and Prejudices: A study of the errors of associating bias to judgment as shown in the “All American Boys.”
| Authors |
| Aiswarya Jayan & Dr. Shibani C Aich |
| Date of Publication: December, 2025 |
| Volume: XXV, No.- XXVIII |
| DOI:10.65734/tgi.ssei.avp.ijcsss.ti.25.28.5 |
| Abstract |
| This paper explores the concepts of Associationism and Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE) or Correspondence Bias by analyzing the 2015 collaborative fictional novel All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely. Garnering attention as the 26th most-banned book of 2022, in America, the novel tells the story of two teenage boys, Rashad Butler and Quinn Collins, and delineates how they navigate life in a politically charged environment plagued by social evils. By examining the book through the lens of ‘Correspondence Bias,’ the social reality of phenomena such as conditioning, profiling, and stereotyping can be understood. Correspondence bias or FAE is a perceptual bias that forms an unsubstantial connection between a person’s action and their personality by ignoring the external situational factors. The practice of racism, when perceived as an extension of the attribution errors, results in a revelation about the fundamental nature of discrimination and bias. This perpetuated bias culminates in a form of conditioning that leaves the victim traumatized and unprotected against the enforced stigmatization. This paper also aims to examine the practice of ‘associationism’ in relation to the racist practices that are perpetually linked to irrational beliefs and ideologies formed based on implicit bias. All American Boys is a testimonial piece of work that exposes and represents the grueling reality of the racial discrimination that has afflicted contemporary American society. Thus, this paper is an endeavor to comprehend such invidious acts from a sociological, psychological, and theoretical perspective, as well as to analyze the effect such issues exert over the aspect of social identity. |
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