Perception Attribution Theory An attempt to explain the ways we judge people differently, depending on the meaning we attribute to a behavior, such as determining whether an individuals behavior is internally or externally caused.
What is the purpose of attribution?
The purpose behind making attributions is to achieve COGNITIVE CONTROL over one's environment by explaining and understanding the causes behind behaviors and environmental occurrences. Making attributions gives order and predictability to our lives; helps us to cope. Imagine what it would be like if you felt that you had no control over the world. (talk about later) When you make attributions you analyze the situation by making inferences (going beyond the information given) about the dispositions of others and yourself as well as inferences about the environment and how it may be causing a person to behave.
What is internal vs external attribution?
External In an internal, or dispositional, attribution, people infer that an event or a person’s behavior is due to personal factors such as traits, abilities, or feelings. In an external, or situational, attribution, people infer that a person’s behavior is due to situational factors. Example: Maria’s car breaks down on the freeway. If she believes the breakdown happened because of her ignorance about cars, she is making an internal attribution. If she believes that the breakdown happened because her car is old, she is making an external attribution.
How to understand attribution?
To understand the concept of attribution, imagine that a new friend cancels plans to meet up for coffee. Do you assume that something unavoidable came up, or that the friend is a flaky person? In other words, do you assume that the behavior was situational (related to external circumstances) or dispositional (related to inherent internal characteristics)? How you answer questions like these is the central focus for psychologists who study attribution.
How does attribution affect emotions?
According to Weiner, the attributions people make affect their emotions. For example, people are more likely to feel pride if they believe that they succeeded due to internal characteristics, such as innate talent, rather than external factors, such as luck. Research on a similar theory, explanatory style, has found that an individual's explanatory style people is linked to their health and levels of stress.
What is the process of determining whether a behavior is situationally caused by external factors or dispositionally caused by internal?
Attribution theories typically focus on the process of determining whether a behavior is situationally-caused (caused by external factors) or dispositionally-caused (caused by internal characteristics).
What is Heider's theory of behavior?
According to Heider, behavior is a product of capacity and motivation.
What is the fundamental attribute error?
Fundamental Attribution Error, which refers to the tendency to over-emphasize the role of personal traits in shaping behaviors. For example, if someone is rude to you, you may assume that they’re generally a rude person, rather than assuming that they were under stress that day.
What is the theory of correspondent inference?
This theory suggests that if someone behaves in a socially desirable way, we do not tend to infer much about them as a person. For example, if you ask your friend for a pencil and she gives one to you, you are not likely to infer much about your friend's character from the behavior, because most people would do the same thing in a given situation—it is the socially desirable response. However, if your friend refuses to allow you to borrow a pencil, you are likely to infer something about her innate characteristics due to this socially undesirable response.
When there are low levels of consensus and distinctiveness, but high consistency, we’re more likely to decide the behavior?
When there are low levels of consensus and distinctiveness, but high consistency, we’re more likely to decide the behavior is due to something about the person. For example, let's imagine that you’re trying to figure out why your friend Carly likes to go sky-diving:
What is attribution theory?
Attribution theory tends to explain certain basic question of individuals “How others do and what they do”. A person interprets with himselves “why others do something which may cause attribute of one’s behavior. Most of our attributions are driven by our emotional and motivational impulses.
Who developed the attribution theory?
The Attribution theory was introduced by Heider but later it was developed by various psychologists and based on this theory various models were attempted to explain the behavioral processes of attribution. According to Heider, How a person understands the event and how the event is related to the person’s thinking process and their behavior.
What is the meaning of "attribution"?
Attribution – Assigning some quality or character of a person or thing
When a person is motivating for a certain action and questioned about it, the person needs to explain the?
When a person is motivating for a certain action and questioned about it, the person needs to explain the reason for the question or action. In Internal attribution, a person always wants to show him as much as positive. Internal attributions are driven by motives and emotional attitudes of an individual.
Common Sense Psychology
Correspondent Inference Theory
- Edward Jones and Keith Davis developed the correspondent inference theory. This theory suggests that if someone behaves in a socially desirable way, we do not tend to infer much about them as a person. For example, if you ask your friend for a pencil and she gives one to you, you are not likely to infer much about your friend's character from the behavior, because most peopl…
Kelley’s Covariation Model
- According to psychologist Harold Kelley’s covariation model, we tend to use three types of information when we’re deciding whether someone’s behavior was internally or externally motivated. 1. Consensus, or whether others would act similarly in a given situation. If other people would typically display the same behavior, we tend to interpret the behavior as being less indicat…
Weiner’s Three-Dimensional Model
- Bernard Weiner’s model suggests that people examine three dimensionswhen attempting to understand the causes of a behavior: locus, stability, and controllability. 1. Locusrefers to whether the behavior was caused by internal or external factors. 2. Stabilityrefers to whether the behavior will happen again in the future. 3. Controllabilityrefers to whether someone is able to change th…
Attribution Errors
- When we try to determine the cause of someone’s behavior, we are not always accurate. In fact, psychologists have identified two key errors that we commonly make when attempting to attribute behavior. 1. Fundamental Attribution Error, which refers to the tendency to over-emphasize the role of personal traits in shaping behaviors. For example, if someone is rude to y…
Sources
- Boyes, Alice. “The Self-Serving Bias - Definition, Research, and Antidotes.” Psychology Today Blog (2013, Jan 9). https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/in-practice/201301/the-self-serving-bias-de...
- Fiske, Susan T., and Shelley E. Taylor. Social Cognition: From Brains to Culture. McGraw-Hill, 2008. https://books.google.com/books?id=7qPUDAAAQBAJ&dq=fiske+taylor+social+cogniti…
- Boyes, Alice. “The Self-Serving Bias - Definition, Research, and Antidotes.” Psychology Today Blog (2013, Jan 9). https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/in-practice/201301/the-self-serving-bias-de...
- Fiske, Susan T., and Shelley E. Taylor. Social Cognition: From Brains to Culture. McGraw-Hill, 2008. https://books.google.com/books?id=7qPUDAAAQBAJ&dq=fiske+taylor+social+cogniti…
- Gilovich, Thomas, Dacher Keltner, and Richard E. Nisbett. Social Psychology. 1st edition, W.W. Norton & Company, 2006.
- Sherman, Mark. “Why We Don't Give Each Other a Break.” Psychology Today Blog (2014, Jun 20). https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/real-men-dont-write-blogs/201406/why-we-dont-give-each-other-break
