Even when alerted to context that should affect their judgment, people tend to ignore it. Instead, they attribute the behavior they see to the person’s nature, character, or persistent motives.

What is ironic is that individuals who attribute others’ behavior to deep hostility are quite likely to explain away their own behavior as a result of being “pushed into a corner” by an adversary.

If people are often poorly equipped to explain the behavior of their adversaries, they are also bad at understanding how they appear to others.

the optimistic bias and the illusion of control are particularly rampant in the run-up to conflict. A hawk’s preference for military action over diplomatic measures is often built upon the assumption that victory will come easily and swiftly.

The intuition that something is worth less simply because the other side has offered it is referred to in academic circles as “reactive devaluation.”