On the way home, the driver in the next lane drifts ever so slightly toward your lane. So now you take offense and swear at them. We've all done this but often fail to realize what the source of the anger was. As a result, many problems occur which otherwise could have been avoided. One of the factors which governs the way we act is our perception of the situation.
Perception is the selection, organization and interpretation of sensory input.
In the above example, you perceived the other driver as invading your space or perhaps doing it on purpose to get you even more mad. In actuality, you both could have been driving more toward the left of your respective lanes and he just drifted to the center of his lane. He has done nothing wrong but all of a sudden, he becomes a victim of your displaced anger. The way we perceive situations has a great deal to do with the way we react. Attributions are inferences that people draw about the causes of events, others' behavior, and their own behavior.