theory of attribution essay

Attribution Theory in Psychology: Definition & Examples

Saul Mcleod, PhD

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Saul Mcleod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

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Attribution theory is concerned with how ordinary people explain the causes of behavior and events. For example, is someone angry because they are bad-tempered or because something bad happened?

A formal definition is provided by Fiske and Taylor (1991, p. 23):

“Attribution theory deals with how the social perceiver uses information to arrive at causal explanations for events.  It examines what information is gathered and how it is combined to form a causal judgment”.

Heider (1958) believed that people are naive psychologists trying to make sense of the social world. People tend to see cause-and-effect relationships, even where there is none!

Heider didn’t so much develop a theory himself to emphasize certain themes that others took up.  There were two main ideas that he put forward that became influential: dispositional (internal cause) vs. situational (external cause) attributions.

Dispositional vs Situational Attribution

1. dispositional attribution.

Dispositional attribution assigns the cause of behavior to some internal characteristic of a person rather than to outside forces.

When we explain the behavior of others, we look for enduring internal attributions, such as personality traits. This is known as the fundamental attribution error .

For example, we attribute the behavior of a person to their personality, motives, or beliefs.

2. Situational Attribution

When we try to explain our behavior, we tend to make external attributions, such as situational or environmental features.

Jones & Davis Correspondent Inference Theory

Jones and Davis (1965) thought that people pay particular attention to intentional behavior (as opposed to accidental or unthinking behavior).

Jones and Davis’ theory helps us understand the process of making an internal attribution.  They say that we tend to do this when we see a correspondence between motive and behavior.  For example, when we see a correspondence between someone behaving in a friendly way and being a friendly person.

Dispositional (i.e., internal) attributions provide us with information from which we can make predictions about a person’s future behavior. The correspondent inference theory describes the conditions under which we make dispositional attributes to the behavior we perceive as intentional.

Davis used the term correspondent inference to refer to an occasion when an observer infers that a person’s behavior matches or corresponds with their personality.  It is an alternative term to dispositional attribution.

So what leads us to make a correspondent inference?

Jones and Davis say we draw on five sources of information:

Choice : If the behavior is freely chosen, it is believed to be due to internal (dispositional) factors.

Accidental vs. Intentional Behavior : Behavior that is intentional is likely to be attributed to the person’s personality, and behavior which is accidental is likely to be attributed to situation / external causes.

Social Desirability : Behaviors low in sociable desirability (non-conforming) lead us to make (internal) dispositional inferences more than socially undesirable behaviors.  For example, if you observe a person getting on a bus and sitting on the floor instead of one of the seats. This behavior has low social desirability (non-conforming) and is likely to correspond with the personality of the individual.

Hedonistic Relevance: If the other person’s behavior appears to be directly intended to benefit or harm us.

Personalism : If the other person’s behavior appears to be intended to have an impact on us, we assume that it is “personal” and not just a by-product of the situation we are both in.

Kelley’s Covariation Model

Kelley’s (1967) covariation model is the best-known attribution theory.  He developed a logical model for judging whether a particular action should be attributed to some characteristic (dispositional) of the person or the environment (situational).

The term covariation simply means that a person has information from multiple observations at different times and situations and can perceive the covariation of an observed effect and its causes.

He argues that people act like scientists in trying to discover the causes of behavior.

More specifically, they take into account three kinds of evidence:

• Consensus : the extent to which other people behave in the same way in a similar situation. E.g.,  Alison smokes a cigarette when she goes out for a meal with her friend.  If her friend smokes, her behavior is high in consensus. If only Alison smokes, it is low.
• Distinctiveness : the extent to which the person behaves in the same way in similar situations.  If Alison only smokes when she is out with friends, her behavior is high in distinctiveness. If she smokes at any time or place, her distinctiveness is low.
• Consistency : the extent to which the person behaves like this every time the situation occurs.  If Alison only smokes when she is out with friends, consistency is high.  If she only smokes on one special occasion, consistency is low.

Let’s look at an example to help understand his particular attribution theory.  Our subject is called Tom. His behavior is laughter.  Tom is laughing at a comedian.

1. Consensus

2. distinctiveness, 3. consistency.

If Tom always laughs at this comedian, the consistency is high.  If Tom rarely laughs at this comedian, then consistency is low.

Now, if everybody laughs at this comedian if they don’t laugh at the comedian who follows, and if this comedian always raises a laugh, then we would make an external attribution, i.e., we assume that Tom is laughing because the comedian is very funny.

On the other hand, if Tom is the only person who laughs at this comedian, if Tom laughs at all comedians, and if Tom always laughs at the comedian, then we would make an internal attribution, i.e., we assume that Tom is laughing because he is the kind of person who laughs a lot.

So what we’ve got here is people attributing causality based on correlation.  That is to say, we see that two things go together, and we, therefore, assume that one causes the other.

One problem, however, is that we may not have enough information to make that kind of judgment. For example, if we don’t know Tom that well, we wouldn’t necessarily have the information to know if his behavior is consistent over time.  So what do we do then?

According to Kelley, we fall back on past experience and look for either

1) Multiple necessary causes . For example, we see an athlete win a marathon, and we reason that she must be very fit, highly motivated, have trained hard, etc., and that she must have all of these to win

2) Multiple sufficient causes . For example, we see an athlete fail a drug test, and we reason that she may be trying to cheat, or have taken a banned substance by accident, or have been tricked into taking it by her coach. Any one reason would be sufficient.

Fiske, S. T., & Taylor, S. E. (1991). Social cognition (2nd ed.) . New York: McGraw-Hill

Heider, F. (1958). The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations . New York: Wiley.

Jones, E. E., & Davis, K. E. (1965) From acts to dispositions: the attribution process in social psychology, in L. Berkowitz (ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Volume 2, pp. 219-266), New York: Academic Press

Kelley, H. H. (1967). Attribution theory in social psychology. In D. Levine (ed.), Nebraska Symposium on Motivation (Volume 15, pp. 192-238). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

Malle, B. F. \(2011\). Attribution theories: How people make sense of behavior. In Chadee, D. \(Ed.\), Theories in social psychology \(p\ p. 72-95\). Wiley-Blackwell.

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What is attribution theory (a definition)​, why is attribution theory important​.

Internal & External Attribution Theory

Attribution theory & locus of control.

• Internal locus of control: People with an internal locus of control believe that their actions and decisions significantly influence the outcomes in their lives. They feel in control of their destiny and are more likely to take responsibility for their actions.
• External locus of control: In contrast, people with an external locus of control believe that external factors, such as luck, fate, or other forces, largely determine the outcomes in their lives. They may feel less in control and more influenced by external circumstances.

Video: Attribution Theory

Attribution Theory & Motivation​

• Internal attributions: This means attributing outcomes to factors within our control like effort, strengths and weaknesses , or personality traits . Attributing success to internal factors such as hard work boosts confidence and self-efficacy, leading to increased motivation for future efforts. This is referred to as an internal locus of control. An example is a student attributing success on a test to their hard work. This means the student sees their success as an internal, controllable attribute, which is likely to boost motivation to study in the future. Conversely, internal attributions for failures can be demotivating, leading to decreased effort or avoidance behavior if individuals feel they lack the necessary skills or ability to succeed.​
• External attributions: ​This means attributing outcomes to factors beyond our control like luck, chance, or external circumstances. Attributing success to external factors can lead to feelings of pride but may not foster long-term motivation if we don't believe we can replicate the success without external help. This is referred to as an external locus of control. Similarly, attributing failures to external factors can be protective of self-esteem but can hinder motivation if individuals believe they have no control over future outcomes. An example of this might be an employee who attributes a poor performance review to a difficult project. While attributing the cause of the poor review to something outside of themselves might protect their self-esteem, it probably won’t motivate them to improve their performance in the future.

Attribution Theory in Communication

• Forming judgments and opinions: Our attributions influence how we judge and form opinions about others. For example, if we attribute someone's success to internal factors, we might view them as competent and worthy of respect. Conversely, attributing their failure to external factors might lead to feelings of sympathy or understanding. ​
• Choosing communication strategies: Depending on the attributions we make, we might choose different communication strategies. If we attribute someone's anger to an internal factor like their personality, we might be more cautious or defensive in our interaction. On the other hand, if we attribute it to an external factor like a stressful situation, we might be more empathetic and supportive. ​  
• ​​ Managing conflict: Attribution plays a crucial role in conflict resolution. If we attribute a conflict to internal factors, it might be harder to resolve because it involves changing someone's personality or behavior. However, attributing it to external factors might open doors for finding solutions by adjusting the situation or environment.

Attribution Theory in Education

• Understanding student motivation: By analyzing how students attribute their performance, educators can identify students who might be struggling with negative attributions like "I'm not smart enough" or "This is too hard." This allows them to provide targeted support and encouragement to shift those attributions toward more positive and controllable factors like effort and persistence .
• Promoting a growth mindset: Attribution theory highlights the importance of attributing success to effort and failure to lack of effort or inadequate strategies. This aligns with a growth mindset , where students believe their abilities can develop with time and effort. Educators can use this knowledge to encourage students to see challenges as opportunities to learn and grow, fostering resilience and perseverance.
• Designing effective feedback: The way feedback is provided can influence how students attribute their performance. Specific and actionable feedback that focuses on effort and strategies can help students develop more positive attributions. Conversely, vague or critical feedback can reinforce negative attributions, hindering motivation.
• Supporting classroom management: Understanding how students attribute behavior can help teachers manage the classroom more effectively. For example, attributing disruptive behavior to controllable factors like boredom or frustration can guide teachers in implementing appropriate interventions and strategies.
• Encouraging student self-reflection : By encouraging students to reflect on how they form their attributions about successes and failures, educators can empower them to take ownership of their learning and to develop self-efficacy. This can involve activities like journaling, discussing past successes and failures, and setting achievable goals.
• Considering cultural factors: Attribution theory can be applied to cultural sensitivity. Different cultures may have varying attributional styles, and educators can consider these cultural factors when interpreting students' attributions.

Attribution Theory & Leadership

• Understanding perceptions: Attribution theory helps leaders understand how their actions and the outcomes of their leadership are perceived by others. It provides insights into whether success or failure is attributed to the leader's abilities, effort, luck, or external factors.
• Motivating and engaging: Leaders can use attribution theory to motivate and engage their team members. Recognizing and attributing success to individual or collective efforts can boost morale and motivation. Conversely, if failure is attributed to controllable factors, leaders can work with the team to address those issues and improve future performance.
• Building trust and accountability: Leaders can use attribution theory to be more mindful of how their actions and decisions are perceived by followers. Attributing successes to collaborative efforts and external factors like market conditions can build trust and credibility. On the other hand, taking undue credit for successes or blaming others for failures can damage their relationships with their team. Leaders can also use attribution theory to cultivate a culture of ownership. By recognizing individual contributions and encouraging initiative, they empower their team and promote responsible action. Conversely, a culture of blame based on external attributions can stifle accountability and creativity .
• Managing self-efficacy: Leaders who attribute their successes to internal factors are more likely to persist in the face of challenges. Attributing failures to external factors can lead to discouragement and decreased self-efficacy.
• Resolving conflict: When conflicts arise, leaders can identify whether those conflicts stem from attributions of personal traits or situational factors. This insight allows them to address conflicts more effectively and promote a positive team environment.
• Adapting leadership style: Leaders can use attribution theory to adapt their leadership style based on how their actions are attributed. If success is attributed to internal factors like skills and abilities, leaders may continue with a visionary and transformational leadership style. If failure is attributed to external factors, leaders may focus on problem-solving and adapting strategies.

Attribution Theory in Marketing

• Identify the most effective marketing channels: By understanding which channels are most likely to lead to a purchase, marketers can focus their spending on those channels.
• Develop more effective messaging: By understanding how consumers make attributions, marketers can develop messaging that is more likely to resonate with them.
• Personalize the customer experience: By understanding individual customers' attribution patterns, marketers can personalize their interactions with them.

Articles Related to  Attribution Theory​

• Learned Helplessness: Definition, Theory, & Examples
• The Halo Effect: Definition, Examples, & Theory
• Inferiority Complex: Definition, Examples, & Psychology ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​​​ ​​ ​

Books Related to Attribution Theory​

• Attribution Theory in Clinical Psychology (Wiley Series in Clinical Psychology)
• New Models, New Extensions of Attribution Theory: The Third Attribution-Personality Theory Conference, CSPP-LA, 1988 (Recent Research in Psychology)
• Attribution Theory: Social and Functional Extensions

Final Thoughts on Attribution Theory​

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• Chater, N., & Loewenstein, G. (2016). The under-appreciated drive for sense-making. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization , 126, 137–154.
• Gaier, S. E. (2015). Understanding why students do what they do: Using attribution theory to help students succeed academically. Research and Teaching in Developmental Education , 6–19.
• Healy, P. (2017, June 8). Fundamental attribution error: What it is & how to avoid it . Harvard Business School Online’s Business Insights Blog. https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/the-fundamental-attribution-error 
• Martinko, M. J., & Mackey, J. D. (2019). Attribution theory: An introduction to the special issue. Journal of Organizational Behavior , 40 (5), 523–527.
• Mcleod, S. (2023, June 11). Attribution theory in psychology: Definition & examples . Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/attribution-theory.html 
• Schmitt, J. (2015). Attribution theory. Wiley Encyclopedia of Management . (Vol. 9, pp. 1–3). John Wiley & Sons.
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Internal and External Attributions

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Gerace, A. (2020). Internal and External Attributions. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_2301

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Attribution Theory

Yustinus Calvin Gai Mali

According to Dörnyei (2001), attributions are “explanations people offer about why they were successful or, more importantly, why they failed in the past” (p. 118). Attributional studies began in the field of social psychology in the 1950s, and Fritz Heider became the “father” of attributions’ theory and research (Dasborough & Harvey, 2016, n. p.). Besides Heider, Bernard Weiner is also well-known for his significant contributions to the development of attribution theory (see, for example, Weiner, 1972, 1976, 1985), which can be categorized as a cognitivist theory (David, 2019).

Previous Studies

Attribution studies have three commonalities. First, in research in education, attribution has been widely cited as one of the key factors in students’ learning motivation and achievement (see, e.g., Banks & Woolfson, 2008; Weiner, 1972). Similarly, Hsieh and Schallert (2008) suggest that how students attribute their past failures may influence how they approach future performances. In this situation, students will have more motivation to enhance their practices when they perceive their learning failure within themselves rather than within external factors that they cannot control (Ellis, 2015). For example, if students believe that they can succeed by making a greater effort, they are more likely to keep trying than if they believe that their teachers do not like them.

Second, previous studies (e.g., Chedzoy & Burden, 2009; Farid & Akhter, 2017; Mali, 2015; Williams, Burden, Poulet, & Maun, 2004) often classified attributions for success and failure and summarized the results in tables with frequency numbers and percentages. For instance, Williams et al. (2004) surveyed 285 11 to 16 year-old students’ attributions in learning foreign languages in five secondary schools in the United Kingdom. The study found that effort became the most widely cited attribution for the students’ learning successes or failures. More specifically, male students appeared to attribute their success to their effort more than female students did, while younger female students most commonly attributed their failure to ability. More recently, Mali (2015) adapted the open-ended questionnaire used in Williams et al.’s study to explore attributions of students’ English speaking achievement, such as their being able to perform a monologue or ask and answer questions using English. The study concluded that positive relationships between the students and teacher as well as among the students themselves were the primary attribution for English-speaking achievement. Based on these findings, Mali reminded language teachers to always maintain good rapport with their students, create positive relationships among the students themselves, and explain why their students need to perform a specific classroom activity.

A third commonality in attribution studies is the use of a questionnaire to explore attributions. In attribution studies, questionnaires often employ closed-ended questions like those in Figure 1. (For the original format of the close-ended questions, see the article). For another type of closed-ended questions, see Peacock’s (2010) study.

Example Question from an Attribution Questionnaire

Perceptions of English Language Learning . Think about your past experiences in the 1st semester English class. Try to remember a time in which you did particularly WELL/ POORLY on an activity in the class. The activity you are think­ing of might be listed          below. If so, circle the activity. If the activ­ity is not listed below, circle the “other. . .” and describe the activ­ity in the space provided. Be sure to choose only ONE activity.

Reading texts using appropriate strategies

Answering comprehension questions

Learning vocabulary

Understanding grammar

Translating texts and passages from English

Other writing activities…………………….

(Mori, et al, 2010, p. 26-27).

In addition, respondents may also be asked to answer open-ended questions based on their previous knowledge or real-life experiences. Open-ended questions (adapted from Williams et al., 2004) may include the following:

When I do well in English, the main reasons are:

When I don’t do well in English, the main reasons are:

In the blanks, respondents can write the answers without following a fixed set of options as they do with close-ended questions. For other similar types of open-ended questions, see other studies such as Mali (2015), Tse (2000), and Yilmaz (2012).

Model of Attribution Theory

Figure 2 presents a model of attribution theory. The model consists of precursors, or what comes before an attribution, and a process with concepts, constructs, and the theory’s proposition.

The attribution theory model starts with the precursors, where people remember their success or failure in the past and begin to explain to themselves why they could be successful or fail in their language learning.

After the students perceive reasons for their successes or failures, they then ascribe the reasons in three main dimensions: locus, stability, and control (see Weiner, 1976, for more details). Weiner explains that locus is whether people perceive a particular cause as being internal or external. Stability is whether a specific cause is something stable (fixed) or unstable (can change). Meanwhile, control is about how much control the student has over a particular reason. Vispoel and Austin (1995) combined the three main dimensions and four causal explanations of attribution into a table to create a classification scheme for causal attributions; see Table 1 for an example of how these concepts work together. Attribution studies in different settings (e.g., Farid & Iqbal, 2012; Farid & Akhter, 2017; Mori et al., 2010; Gobel, Thang, Sidhu, Oon, & Chan, 2013; Rasekh, Zabihi, & Rezazadeh, 2012; Thang, Gobel, Mohd. Nor, & Suppiah, 2011) often discuss this scheme in their literature review or use some components of the scheme to develop research instruments.

Dimensional Classification Scheme for Causal Attributions

(Vispoel & Austin, 1995, p. 382)

Four possible causal explanations (e.g., ability, effort, luck, or task difficulty) comprise the three main dimensions of locus, stability, and control to which a particular cause is attributed. For instance, Weiner (1985) quoted a story of a Japanese warrior, Miyomota Musashi, who attributed his previous victories to natural ability. Weiner also instanced a football coach, Ray Malavasi, who related nine consecutive losses of his team to his players who were not doing their best. More recently, Mori et al. (2010) explained that effort refers to “a cause that is internal, unstable, controllable, while an ability is something internal, beyond personal control, and that endures over time” (p. 7). The literature (e.g., Dörnyei, 2001; Ellis, 2015; Weiner, 1976, 1985) suggests that when students refer their failures to an internal, unstable, and controllable attribution, such as lack of effort, they will enhance their motivation to do better and work harder.

Proposition

In the end, attribution theory proposes that students might enhance their perseverance and persistence to achieve learning goals more successfully when they attribute their success or failure to internal, unstable, and controllable causes, such as effort (Dörnyei, 2001; Mori et al., 2010).

Using the Model

There are many possible ways to use the model for teaching and research purposes. For teaching purposes, for example, teachers can ask their students to think about a failure they experienced in a language class. Next, the students can write a self-reflective essay on why they think they failed and what they can learn from the failure to enhance future performance. Teachers can use the model to figure out common attributions in the students’ essay and work with the student to figure out ways to perceive their learning based on internal, controllable factors. Then, like Demetriou (2011) suggests, teachers can collaborate with their students to plan future action based on the common attributions revealed in the essay.

For research purposes, studies can test the proposition of the model; they can explore whether students believe that attributing their failure to  effort  might/ might not enhance their perseverance and persistence in their learning. Researchers can also expand on previous studies by classifying attributions for failure in a specific class (e.g., in a language class for writing, reading, listening, or speaking). Next, they can develop questionnaire items from the components of attributions (e.g., ability, effort, luck, or task difficulty) as displayed in the model and then survey students. Conducting research that specifically explores attributions for learning failure in across disciplines might be crucial, because, for example, “failure in learning a second language is very common, and the way people process these failures is bound to have a powerful general impact” (Dörnyei, 2001, p. 119). In addition, studies can be conducted in English as a foreign language (EFL) and other settings in which “learner attributions, perceived causes of success and failure, have received little attention…” (Peacock, 2010, p. 184).

It might be challenging for some people to make attributions for their failure in the past, as it requires reflective capabilities. Regardless of that challenge, there are possibilities for using components of attribution theory (e.g., locus, controllability, effort) as a foundation for teachers and students to explain and mitigate academic success or failure.

Banks, M., & Woolfson, L. (2008). Why do students think they fail? The relationship between attributions and academic self-perceptions. British Journal of Special Education , 35 (1), 49–56.

Chedzoy, S., & Burden, R. (2009). Primary school children’s reflections on Physical Education lessons: An attributional analysis and possible implications for teacher action. Thinking Skills and Creativity , 4 , 185–193.

Dasborough, M. T., & Harvey, P. (2016). Attributions. Oxford Bibliography. https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199846740/obo-9780199846740-0106.xml

David, L. (2019, February 2). Summaries of learning theories and models . https://www.learning-theories.com/

Demetriou, C. (2011). The attribution theory of learning and advising students on academic probation. NACADA Journal , 31 (2), 16–21.

Dörnyei, Z. (Ed.). (2001). Motivational strategies in the language classroom [PDF file] . Cambridge University Press.

Ellis, R. (2015). Understanding second language acquisition (2nd ed.) [PDF file]. Oxford University Press.

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Attribution Theory: The Psychology of Interpreting Behavior

• Archaeology
• Ph.D., Psychology, University of California - Santa Barbara
• B.A., Psychology and Peace & Conflict Studies, University of California - Berkeley

In psychology,  attribution is a judgment we make about the cause of another person's behavior. Attribution theory explains these attribution processes, which we use to understand why an event or behavior occurred.

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.

Key Takeaways: Attribution Theory

• Attribution theories attempt to explain how human beings evaluate and determine the cause of other people's behavior.
• Well-known attribution theories include the correspondent inference theory, Kelley's covariation model, and Weiner's three-dimensional model.
• 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).

Common Sense Psychology

Fritz Heider  put forward his theories of attribution in his 1958 book The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations . Heider was interested in examining how individuals determine whether another person's behavior is internally caused or externally caused.

According to Heider, behavior is a product of capacity and motivation. Capacity refers to whether we are able to enact a particular behavior—that is, whether our innate characteristics and our present environment make that behavior possible. Motivation refers to our intentions as well as how much effort we apply.

Heider contended that both capacity and motivation are necessary for a particular behavior to occur. For example, your ability to run a marathon depends on both your physical fitness and the weather that day (your capacity) as well as your desire and drive to push through the race (your motivation).

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 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.

Also according to this theory, we do not tend to conclude much about an individual's internal motivation if they’re acting in a particular  social role. For example, a salesperson might be friendly and outgoing at work, but because such a demeanor is part of the job requirements, we will not attribute the behavior to an innate characteristic.

On the other hand, if an individual displays behavior that is atypical in a given social situation, we tend to be more likely to attribute their behavior to their innate disposition. For example, if we see someone behaving in a quiet, reserved manner at a loud and boisterous party, we’re more likely to conclude that this person is  introverted .

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.

• 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 indicative of an individual's innate characteristics.
• Distinctiveness , or whether the person acts similarly across other situations. If a person only acts a certain way in one situation, the behavior can probably be attributed to the situation rather than the person.
• Consistency , or whether someone acts the same way in a given situation each time it occurs. If someone’s behavior in a given situation is inconsistent from one time to the next, their behavior becomes more difficult to attribute.

When there are high levels of consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency, we tend to attribute the behavior to the situation. For example, let's imagine that you've never eaten cheese pizza before, and are trying to figure out why your friend Sally likes cheese pizza so much:

• All of your other friends also like pizza (high consensus)
• Sally doesn't like many other foods with cheese (high distinctiveness)
• Sally likes every pizza she's ever tried (high consistency)

Taken together, this information suggests that Sally's behavior (liking pizza) is the result of a specific circumstance or situation (pizza tastes good and is a nearly universally enjoyed dish), rather than some inherent characteristic of Sally's.

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:

• None of your other friends likes to go sky-diving (low consensus)
• Carly likes many other high-adrenaline activities (low distinctiveness)
• Carly has been sky-diving many times and she's always had a great time (high consistency)

Taken together, this information suggests that Carly's behavior (her love of sky-diving) is the result of an inherent characteristic of Carly's (being a thrill-seeker), rather than a situational aspect of the act of sky-diving.

Weiner’s Three-Dimensional Model

Bernard Weiner’s model suggests that people examine three dimensions  when attempting to understand the causes of a behavior: locus, stability, and controllability.

• Locus  refers to whether the behavior was caused by internal or external factors.
• Stability  refers to whether the behavior will happen again in the future.
• Controllability  refers to whether someone is able to change the outcome of an event by expending more effort.

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.

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.

• 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.
• Self-Serving Bias , which refers to the tendency to give ourselves credit (i.e. make an internal attribution when things go well, but blame the situation or bad luck (i.e. make an external attribution) when things go poorly. According to recent research, people who are experiencing depression may not show the  self-serving bias , and may even experience a reverse bias.
• 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-definition-research-and-antidotes
• 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+cognition&lr
• 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
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• Understanding Socialization in Sociology
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• What Is Game Theory?
• Gender in English: He, She or It?
• What Is Model-Dependent Realism?
• Definition and Discussion of Chomskyan Linguistics
• What Is the Law of Effect in Psychology?

IResearchNet

Attribution Theory

Attribution theory definition.

Attribution theory—or rather, a family of attribution theories—is concerned with the question of how ordinary people explain human behavior. One type of attribution theory emphasizes people’s use of folk psychology to detect and understand internal states such as goals, desires, or intentions. People then use these inferred states to explain the behavior they observe. Another type of attribution theory assumes that people observe regularities and differences in behavior to learn about dispositions (e.g., personality traits, attitudes) that are characteristic of themselves or others. Attribution theories pose a challenge to academic efforts to account for behavior that either fail to explain the individual behaviors of individual people or that deny the usefulness of folk psychological (or mentalistic) concepts. Attribution theories are complemented by what is sometimes called attributional theories. These theories address the consequences of particular attributions for emotions (e.g., anger vs. pity), judgments (e.g., of guilt vs. innocence), and behavior (e.g., aggression vs. assistance).

Attribution as Perception

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Heider made two important distinctions. The first distinction was whether a behavior is seen as intentional or unintentional; the second distinction was whether a behavior is seen as caused by something about the person or by something about the situation. These two distinctions are related because intentional behaviors say more about the person than about the situation. Heider anticipated that people regard personal attributions as most important. Individualist cultures, in particular, foster a tendency to see humans as autonomous agents who have some control over their own behavior. Once they have made a personal attribution, people can predict a person’s future behavior more confidently. Suppose Ringo repays a loan from Paul on time. If Paul concludes that Ringo is trustworthy, he may help him again when the need arises, or feel comfortable to trust Ringo in other ways, as when confiding a piece of gossip about George.

The repayment of a loan is likely seen as an intentional act, especially when there are no signs that the person was coerced. Heider suggested that an attribution of intentionality can be made with little thought, much like the visual perception of objects is largely automatic. In social perception, the person and the behavior form a perceptual unit, and thereby suggest a causal connection. Experiments have shown that the observation of a behavior that implies a certain personality trait (such as the timely repayment of a loan suggests trustworthiness) makes that trait mentally accessible. If, for example, people read about a repaid loan and a host of other behaviors, seeing the word trustworthy at a later time helps them recall the specific behavior that suggested it.

Whereas the person-behavior unit is figural in social perception, the situation is usually the background. Compared with a person, a situation is typically not well organized perceptually. It can comprise the presence of other people, current moods, the weather, or the time of day. Only when a particular aspect of a situation commands attention, such as the threat of penalties in the loan example, can situational attributions become more prominent.

The attribution of an intentional, and thus personal, causation is furthered if the actor exerts effort. If we learn that Ringo recently took a second job, we feel more confident about his intention to repay the loan. I n general, if a person appears to go the extra mile to produce a desired effect, people attribute the behavior to a conscious goal. The third, and perhaps the strongest cue toward intentionality is what Heider called equifinality. Equifinality can only be revealed by several behaviors that lead to the same end result. Courting behavior is an example. A suitor who sends flowers, cards, and chocolates, and who also serenades the object of his desire really seems to mean it. Note that these cues are not independent. He who seeks many means to achieve the same end can often only do so by exerting more effort than he who is more nonchalant.

Attribution as Inference

In 1965, Edward Jones and Keith Davis proposed the more formal theory of correspondent inferences. They stressed that attributions of intentionality depend on the impression that the actor freely chose what to do. There had to be alternative options as well as a lack of situational pressures, such as coercion by others. A chosen option is most informative if its alternatives differ in their consequences, and if the person was able to foresee these consequences. For example, we can learn about Ringo’s intentions from what he did with the money he borrowed. Suppose he had the options of buying a lawn mower, a new computer, or a cruise for his wife. Choosing the last option is most informative because it has the unique consequence of affirming an important personal relationship.

The question of free choice became a watershed issue for all attribution theories because it most clearly separates personal from situational causes. Originally, Jones and his colleagues believed that people would discount personal explanations if a behavior was externally constrained. In a famous experiment in 1967, Jones and Victor Harris found, however, that people thought a person who, in compliance with an experimenter’s request, had written an essay in praise of Fidel Castro, privately held pro-Castro attitudes. The tendency to make inferences about the person even when the situation could fully explain the behavior, was henceforth called the correspondence bias, or more evocatively, the fundamental attribution error. In short, the theory of correspondent inferences assumed that the road from behaviors to dispositional attributions is a rocky one because of the multiplicity of considerations that is presumably necessary. In contrast, the evidence for quick and potentially biased inferences suggests that people make use of perceptual shortcuts, just as Heider had suspected.

Some of these shortcuts are self-serving. People readily attribute successes and other positive events to their own efforts or enduring qualities, while attributing failures or other setbacks to chance or to features of the situation (e.g., “The test was unfair!”). Although self-serving biases are suspect from a normative point of view, they have adaptive benefits. People who attribute successes to their own ability and their failures to bad luck are less likely to be depressed and more likely to persevere after setbacks. These biases are truly self-serving only if they are unique to the self-perspective, that is, if the favorable explanatory pattern does not affect explanations of the behaviors or outcomes of others.

A more general bias is the actor-observer effect, which refers to the tendency to make fewer dispositional or more situational attributions for one’s own behavior than for the behavior of others. This effect turns out to be rather weak. Bertram Malle has suggested that the main difference between the self- and the observer’s perspective is that the former heavily relies on reasons as explanations, whereas the latter relies on causes. Reasons are derived from intentions, which people find available in their own minds but can only infer from the behavior or others; causes include all situational sources of behavior as well as personal dispositions that lie outside the realm of intentional action (e.g., habits, compulsions, automatisms).

Attribution as Induction

Perceptions and inferences regarding intentionality and causality can involve a fair amount of guesswork. Their quality depends on the perceiver’s ability to make reasonable assumptions to make up for missing information. Harold Kelley suggested that attributions are a certain kind of inductive inference. That is, people induce a probable cause from available information. Following the British empiricists, and particularly John Stuart Mill’s joint method of agreement and difference, Kelley proposed that an event (e.g., a behavior) is attributed to whichever potential cause is present when the event is present and that is absent when the event is absent.

In Kelley’s scheme, there are three sources of variability. Variability over actors is called consensus. Consensus is low if only Ringo, but no one else, repays his loan. It suggests that Ringo, but not Paul, should be credited as the source of Ringo’s behavior. Variability over stimuli is called distinctiveness. Distinctiveness is high if Ringo only repays Paul but not George, suggesting that Paul has some control over Ringo’s behavior. Finally, variability over time is called consistency. Consistency is high if the behavior occurs repeatedly, as when, for example, Ringo always repays his loans. By itself, consistent behavior does not reveal much about its likely cause. If, however, consensus or distinctiveness information already suggests a particular attribution, high consistency makes this attribution more certain.

A full suite of information concerning consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency is called a configuration. On the basis of such a configuration, a social perceiver can decide whether to attribute a behavior to the person, to the stimulus, to the particular relationship between the two, or to the circumstances prevailing at the time. With each of the three types of information being either high or low, eight different configurations are possible. The configuration of low consensus, low distinctiveness, and high consistency affords the strongest person attribution; the configuration of high consensus, high distinctiveness, and high consistency affords the strongest stimulus attribution. Over the years, numerous refinements to Kelley’s model have been introduced. The goal of these efforts has been to identify unique predictions for each possible configuration, and to validate these predictions with empirical data about how social perceivers actually make attributions.

Patricia Cheng’s and Laura Novick’s probabilistic contrast model advances these ideas by recognizing the uncertainty of many causal attributions. In their model, an aspect of the world (e.g., a person or a situation) is perceived as a cause if the event (e.g., a behavior) is more likely to occur when this aspect is present than when it is absent. That is, causality is inferred from a difference between probabilities. This theory can account for a complex interplay of causes. Suppose that the probability of Ringo repaying a loan is greater if Paul is the lender than if George is the lender, whereas the probability of John repaying the loan is low regardless of lender. Statistically, this pattern is an interaction; it reveals the unique relationship between Ringo and Paul as the most probable cause. Yet, Kelley’s theory leads to the same conclusion, because the pattern of covariation is coded as one with low consensus, high distinctiveness, and high consistency. So what has been gained? Note that Kelley’s model ignores the probability of another actor (John) repaying another lender (George). If this probability were high, Ringo’s behavior would no longer be unusual, and hence, the attribution of his behavior to his relationship with Paul would also be weakened.

Attribution as Construction

The probabilistic contrast model is conceptually elegant, mathematically rigorous, and empirically well supported. However, the price for the model’s precision is a lack of realism. The Cheng and Novick model, as well as other theories of inductive inference, faces several critical issues, which set the agenda for current and future refinements of attribution theory.

The first issue is that ordinary social perceivers rarely have enough information to evaluate configurations of evidence. To make attributions, they must exploit direct perceptual inferences, inferences based on partial cues, or common social background knowledge. Recent integrative models address this problem by combining aspects of the folk psychology approach with the statistical-reasoning approach.

The second issue is that sources of information are rarely independent. Behavior low in distinctiveness also tends to be highly consistent because people enter different situations sequentially. To untangle distinctiveness from consistency, they must figure out which situations they can treat as identical and how they can mentally correct the conflation of different situations with different times. Formal statistical tools can do this with numerical data, but ordinary intuition is not equipped to handle this task.

The third issue is that trait attributions, once made, do not contribute much to the causal explanation of behavior. Once we believe that Ringo is trustworthy, this characteristic of his becomes a mere enabling condition because it is always there. As a trait, trustworthiness is, by definition, a constant feature and therefore cannot vary. To explain a particular trustworthy act, some additional cause must be invoked. When the additional cause is an aspect of the situation, a peculiar shortcoming of standard attribution theory emerges. Since the days of Heider’s theory, personal and situational causes have been treated as competitive. Kelley’s famous discounting principle states that the stronger the situational cause is, the weaker the personal cause must be. The assumption of a hydraulic relationship between personal and situational causes may not be realistic. People who react aggressively to provocation, for example, are seen as having aggressive personalities, whereas people who aggress without provocation are more likely seen as disturbed. Contrary to the classic logic, a situational stimulus can enable a dispositional attribution, rather than inhibit it.

The final and most fundamental issue is that patterns of covariation never prove causation. One can show that a given covariation is not causal, but one cannot prove that a covariation is not causal. Educated people do not believe that the crowing of a rooster calls forth the dawn of a new day even if it consistently precedes it. There is no known mechanism that links the two. In contrast, if a comedian’s cracks are always followed by riotous laughter, one can examine the specific properties of the jokes as mediating variables and note the fact that the intervals between jokes can be varied at will.

When there is a plausible process, or mediator, variable that can link an effect to a putative cause, the case for causation becomes stronger, but it still is not proven. The problem reduces again to covariation, that is, to the statistical relationships between the presumed cause and the mediator variable, and between the mediator variable and the effect. That there is no end to this, no matter how many mediator variables are inserted, rein-forces philosopher David Hume’s skepticism regarding causation. Covariations can be accepted as causal only with the aid of perceptions, inferences, or beliefs that lie outside of the field of observable data.

Whereas attribution theories call on the concepts of folk psychology to support causal claims, the same concepts remain suspect as prescientific from an academic perspective. This leads to the ironic conclusion that ordinary people often have a greater facility in explaining individual behaviors than some formal theories do. Moreover, theories that reject intentions, or conscious will more generally, as a cause of behavior imply that the ordinary person’s interest in them must be mistaken. The counterargument is that intentions are no different from other mental phenomena, such as attention, learning, or memory, that many reductionist theories invest with explanatory power. If so, insights gained from folk psychology and formalized by attribution theories can enrich academic theories of human behavior, just as Heider hoped they would.

Most scientific theories rely on experimentation to determine the causes of behavior. If experimentation were the royal road to understanding causation, one might demand ordinary people to conduct experiments before making attributions. They usually do not, and they should not be blamed, because experimentation is difficult and costly (note that such blaming would be an act of attribution). Experimentation has its own limitations. One is that experiments are better suited for the detection of behavioral trends in groups of people than for finding out why a certain person performed a specific act. Another limitation is that personal characteristics such as traits are, by definition, stable and thus not amenable to experimental variation.

The most important limitation, however, is the general force of Hume’s critique. Causality cannot be established by observation alone; instead, it requires a psychological contribution that goes beyond the data given. This is true in scientific experimentation as it is in ordinary social perception. Experiments only yield patterns of covariation. The extra knowledge that scientists use to go beyond covariation is their belief that they can replicate experimental results at will. In other words, their own intentions and sense of agency play a crucial role in their conviction that covariations observed in experimental data can keep Hume’s specter at bay. By explaining the causal beliefs of behavioral scientists, attribution theory comes full circle.

References:

• Cheng, P. W., & Novick, L. R. (1992). Covariation in natural causal induction. Psychological Review, 99, 365-382.
• Gilbert, D. T. (1998). Ordinary personology. In D. T. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske, & G. Lindzey (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology (4th ed., Vol. 2, pp. 89-150). New York: McGraw-Hill.
• Malle, B. F. (2004). How the mind explains behavior: Folk explanations, meaning, and social interaction. Cambridge: MIT Press.
• Rudolph, U., Roesch, S. C., & Greitemeyer, T., & Weiner, B. (2004). A meta-analytic review of help giving and aggression from an attributional perspective: Contributions to a general theory of motivation. Cognition and Emotion, 18, 815-848.
• Sutton, R. M., & McClure, J. (2001). Covariational influences on goal-based explanation: An integrative model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 222-236.

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Understanding Attribution in Social Psychology

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Shereen Lehman, MS, is a healthcare journalist and fact checker. She has co-authored two books for the popular Dummies Series (as Shereen Jegtvig).

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• Types and Examples

Influential Biases and Errors

In social psychology , attribution is the process of inferring the causes of events or behaviors. In real life, attribution is something we all do every day, usually without any awareness of the underlying processes and biases that lead to our inferences.

For example, over the course of a typical day, you probably make numerous attributions about your own behavior as well as that of the people around you.

When you get a poor grade on a quiz, you might blame the teacher for not adequately explaining the material, completely dismissing the fact that you didn't study. When a classmate gets a great grade on the same quiz, you might attribute their good performance to luck, neglecting the fact that they have excellent study habits.

What impact do attributions for behavior really have on your life? The attributions you make each and every day have an important influence on your feelings as well as how you think and relate to other people.

Types and Examples of Attribution

Why do we make internal attributions for some things while making external attributions for others? Part of this has to do with the type of attribution we are likely to use in a particular situation. Cognitive biases often play major roles as well.

The main types of attributions you may use in daily life include the following.

Interpersonal Attribution

When telling a story to a group of friends or acquaintances, you are likely to tell the story in a way that places you in the best possible light.

Predictive Attribution

We also tend to attribute things in ways that allow us to make future predictions. If your car was vandalized, you might attribute the crime to the fact that you parked in a particular parking garage. As a result, you may avoid that parking garage in the future.

Explanatory Attribution

We use explanatory attributions to help us make sense of the world around us. Some people have an optimistic explanatory style, while others tend to be more pessimistic.

People with an optimistic style attribute positive events to stable, internal, and global causes and negative events to unstable, external, and specific causes. Those with a pessimistic style attribute negative events to internal, stable, and global causes and positive events to external, stable, and specific causes.

Psychologists have also introduced a number of different theories to help further understand how the attribution process works.

Correspondent Inference Theory

In 1965, Edward Jones and Keith Davis suggested that people make inferences about others in cases where actions are intentional rather than accidental. When people see others acting in certain ways, they look for a correspondence between the person's motives and their behaviors. The inferences people then make are based on the degree of choice, the expectedness of the behavior, and the effects of that behavior.

Heider's 'Common Sense' Theory

In his 1958 book, "The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations," Fritz Heider suggested that people observe others, analyze their behavior, and come up with their own common-sense explanations for their actions.

Heider groups these explanations into either external attributions or internal attributions. External attributions are those that are blamed on situational forces, while internal attributions are blamed on individual characteristics and traits.

The following biases and errors can also influence attribution.

The Actor-Observer Bias

Interestingly, when it comes to explaining our own behavior, we tend to have the opposite bias of the fundamental attribution error. When something happens, we are more likely to blame external forces than our personal characteristics. In psychology, this tendency is known as the actor-observer bias.

How can we explain this tendency? One possible reason is that we simply have more information about our own situation than we do about other people's. When it comes to explaining your own actions, you have more information about yourself and the situational variables at play. When you're trying to explain another person's behavior, you are at a bit of a disadvantage; you only have the information that is readily observable.

Not surprisingly, people are less likely to fall victim to the actor-observer discrepancy with people that they know very well. Because you know more about the personality and behavior of people you're close to, you are better able to take their point of view and more likely to be aware of possible situational causes for their behaviors.

The Fundamental Attribution Error

When it comes to other people, we tend to attribute causes to internal factors such as personality characteristics and ignore or minimize external variables. This phenomenon tends to be very widespread, particularly among individualistic cultures .

Psychologists refer to this tendency as the fundamental attribution error; even though situational variables are very likely present, we automatically attribute the cause to internal characteristics.

The fundamental attribution error explains why people often blame other people for things over which they usually have no control. The term blaming the victim is often used by social psychologists to describe a phenomenon in which people blame innocent victims of crimes for their misfortune.

In such cases, people may accuse the victim of failing to protect themselves from the event by behaving in a certain manner or not taking specific precautionary steps to avoid or prevent the event.

Examples of this include accusing survivors of rape, domestic violence, and kidnapping of behaving in a manner that somehow provoked their attackers. Researchers suggest that hindsight bias causes people to mistakenly believe that victims should have been able to predict future events and therefore take steps to avoid them.

Self-Serving Bias

Think about the last time you received a good grade on an exam. Chances are that you attributed your success to  internal  factors, such as "I did well because I am smart" or "I did well because I studied and was well-prepared."

What happens when you receive a poor grade, though? Social psychologists have found that in this situation, you are more likely to attribute your failure to  external  forces, such as "I failed because the teacher included trick questions" or "The classroom was so hot that I couldn't concentrate." Notice that both of these explanations lay the blame on outside forces rather than accepting personal responsibility.

Psychologists refer to this phenomenon as the self-serving bias. So why are we more likely to attribute our success to our personal characteristics and blame outside variables for our failures? Researchers believe that blaming external factors for failures and disappointments helps protect  self-esteem .

Jones WW, Davis KE. From acts to dispositions: The attribution process in person perception . Adv Exper Soc Psych . 1965; 2:219-266. doi: 10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60107-0

Reisenzein R, Rudolph U. The discovery of common-sense psychology .  Social Psychology. 2008;39(3), 125–133. doi:10.1027/1864-9335.39.3.125

Felson RB, Palmore C. Biases in blaming victims of rape and other crime .  Psychology of Violence. 2018; 8(3), 390–399. doi:10.1037/vio0000168

Shepperd J, Malone W, Sweeny K.  Exploring causes of the self‐serving bias . Social and Personality Psychology Compass. 2008;2:895-908. doi:10.1111/j.1751-9004.2008.00078.x

Goldinger SD, Kleider HM, Azuma T, Beike DR. “Blaming the victim” under memory load .  Psychol Sci . 2003;14(1):81-85. doi:10.1111/1467-9280.01423

Jaspars J, Fincham FD, Hewstone M. Attribution Theory and Research: Conceptual Developmental and Social Dimensions. Academic Press. 1983.

Jones EE, Nisbett RE. The Actor and the Observer: Divergent Perceptions of the Causes of Behavior. New York: General Learning Press. 1971.

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

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• Attribution Theory Essays

Attribution Theory Essays (Examples)

217+ documents containing “attribution theory” .

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Attribution theory.

Attribution Theory Human behavior is a complex process and the attribution theories try to explain it by discussing the psychological processes going on. It discusses the causes as well as effects of the particular behavior under consideration (Attribution Theory, n.d.). The Attribution theory also tries to explain if a person behaves in a certain way due to internal or external locus of control. The types of attribution theories are common sense, correspondent inference, co-variation model of attribution and three-dimensional model of attribution. Three-dimensional model of attribution The Gavin's behavior is explained by three dimensional model of attribution that takes into account stable theory, locus of control and controllability. Gavin seems to have unstable behavior, external locus of control and personally uncontrollable. He has own perceptions about self and things. He forgets things and leads an undisciplined life. He has less control and emotionally not very stable. Gavin has a behavior that is confused….

Attribution Theory, (n.d.), Retrieved from:

http://education.purduecal.edu/Vockell/EdPsyBook/Edpsy5/edpsy5_attribution.htm

Marsden, A., Veeraraghavan, M. And Ye, M., (2008), "Heuristics of Representativeness,

Anchoring and Adjustment, and Leniency: Impact on Earnings' Forecasts by Australian Analysts," Quarterly Journal of Finance and Accounting, 47(2), 83-102

Attribution Theory Industrial organization Industrial organizational theory: The usefulness of attribution theory in a modern organization like Google Attribution theory Attribution theory attempts to explain how human beings attach meaning to their own behavior and the behavior of others. A presumption of the theory is that perception is not always reality. For example, an employee might perceive his or her boss to be aggressive or an employee might perceive all subordinates to be lazy. Attribution theory attempts to answer why this might be the case: what perceptual issues are factoring into these statements. Another definition of the theory is that it is "how and why ordinary people explain events as they do" (McLeod 2010). One of the earliest exponents of attribution theory was Heider (1958) who noted that people tend to explain the behavior of others based upon perceived consistent internal characteristics, i.e. saying that the other person is 'that type of person' and thus….

Attribution theory. (2013). Instructional Design. Retrieved from:

 http://www.instructionaldesign.org/theories/attribution-theory.html 

Attribution theory. (2014). University of Twente. Retrieved from:

 http://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20clusters/public%20relations,%20advertising,%20marketing%20and%20consumer%20behavior/attribution_theory/

Attribution Theory Juvenile Delinquency and

The findings are expected to reveal interesting facts about the core motivations and external factors leading to juvenile delinquency. Parents and teachers will also be asked how they view their children, as well as suggestions on how the delinquency problem can be remedied. All the answers from all the interviews and questionnaires will be consolidated to form a statistical body of research. This will be analyzed in order to determine perceptions and motivations for juvenile delinquency, to understand it better, and to combat it more effectively. The premise of the study is that research focusing upon criminal activity -- especially as it concerns the youth, often fails to take into account that various factors influence social problems such as delinquency. Asking the teenagers themselves about their perceptions of crime and criminal activity, as well as the punishment involved, can provide a valuable deeper layer of understanding regarding the issue of juvenile delinquency.….

Johnson-Pynn, Julie, Fragaszy, Dorothy M., & Cummins-Sebree, Sarah. (2003). Common

Territories in Comparative and Developmental Psychology: Quest for Shared Means and Meaning in Behavioral Investigations. International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 16(1), . Retrieved from:  http://escholarship.org/uc/item/5r20j8bk 

Siegel, Larry J. & Welsh, Brandon C. (2008). Juvenile Delinquency: Theory, Practice, and Law. Cengage Learning.

Wiener, Hannah L. (2009). Attribution Theory and the American Tort System. Duke University School of Law.  http://www.abanet.org/tips/lawstudent/WeinerWritingCompetitionSubmission3.pdf

Attribution Theory in General Terms

Furthermore, the significance of this theory also extends to issues relating to health. This refers to the fact that the individual differences in attribution style and perception can lead to positive and negative implications for the individual. For example, "…differences in attributional style may lead to depression…and health problems with those who had a more pessimistic explanatory style. Baseball players with a pessimistic style died earlier than optimistic players ( ATTIBUTION THEOY. Shippensburg University ). Conclusion In conclusion, the theory of attribution is important in that it provides a theoretical structure that helps to interpret the individual's actions, behaviors and emotions in terms of the concept of attribution. This concept is also linked to an understanding of low and high self-esteem and motivational factors in education and other areas. The significance of this theory also lies in the fact that attribution enables the individual to have a certain perceived degree of control….

Attribution Theory (B. Weiner) Retrieved from http://tip.psychology.org/weiner.html

Attribution Theory: Changing minds. Retrieved from  http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/attribution_theory.htm 

ATTRIBUTION THEORY. Shippensburg University. Retrieved from  http://webspace.ship.edu/ambart/PSY_220/attributionol.htm 

Introduction to Organizational Behavior. Retrieved from  http://www.icmrindia.org/courseware/Organizational%20Behavior/OB-DS9.htm

Attribution Theory Covered in the eadings Human beings are naturally an inquisitive set of species; they are always wondering how and why things occur. For this reason, they create sciences, philosophies and religions as approaches of answering their questions. For decades, this curiosity has influenced their personal, interpersonal, cultural and societal lives in intricate ways. Much of this is observed in our daily lives through our conversations and mindset interactions with other people. For example, human beings tend to question why some people look the way they do. Eventually, they develop answers according to different situations like why some people do not have jobs while others wonder why other people went overseas (Bains, 1983). The process of developing questions and answers to a series of questions are fundamental such that it figures out the underlying causes of things that happen. esearchers have characterized this tendency as a justified basic human….

Anderson, C.A. & Deuser, W.E. (1993). The primacy of control in causal thinking and attributional style: an attributional functionalism perspective. In G. Weary, F. Gleicher & K.J. Marsh, Control motivation and social cognition. (pp. 94-121). New York: Springer-Verlag.

Antaki, C. (1982). A brief introduction to attribution and attributional theories. Attributions and psychological change: application of attributional theories to clinical and educational practice. London: Academic Press.

Bains, G. (1983). Explanations and the need for control. In M. Hewstone (ed) Attribution theory: social and functional extensions. (pp. 126-143). Oxford: Blackwell.

Bohner, G., Bless, H., Schwarz, N. & Strack, F. (1988). What triggers causal attributions? The impact of valence and subjective probability. European Journal of Social Psychology, 18, 335-345.

The Role Attribution Theory Plays in How Perceptions About Others Are Formed in the Workplace

ole Attribution Theory Plays in How Perceptions About Others Are Formed in the Workplace Anyone who has ever worked in an organizational setting can readily attest to the need to understand others in order to facilitate personal interactions and achieve optimal job performance. Attribution theory holds that people tend to develop perceptions about others based on their empirical observations which are then used, consciously or subconsciously, to form perceptions about their behaviors. In some ways, this process of applying attribution theory is intuitive and ongoing but there are some aspects of attribution theory that require explanation in order to better understand how and why people are motivated in this fashion. To this end, this paper reviews the relevant peer-reviewed and scholarly literature in order to evaluate the role attribution theory plays in how perceptions about others are formed in the workplace. Finally, a summary of the research and important findings about….

Bastounis, M. & Minibas-Poussard, J. (2012, March 15). Causal attributions of workplace gender equality, Just World Belief, and the self/other distinction. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal, 40(3), 433-439.

Cabanis, M. & Pyka, M. (2013, June). The precuneus and the insula in self-attributional processes. Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience, 13(2), 330-335.

Cagney, T. (2012, July). Supervisor and manager training: Thinking outside the box. The Journal of Employee Assistance, 42(3), 37.

Chadee, D. (2011). Theories in social psychology. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.

Rights of Women and the Attribution Theory

Communication and Sociology Communication The speech by Susan Anthony depicts the way in which the U.S. women were denied their constitution right to vote during the early 1800s. The speech shows that men were the only ones allowed to participate in voting exercise, while, the women played an insignificant role in the process. Similarly, the speech shows that men, resulting in the discrimination of the women, occupied most of the leadership positions in the government. Based on this, the presenter questions the credibility and validity of the reasons given to defend the basis for denying the women to fulfill their constitutional obligations. The speech implies that a society characterized by discrimination of women faces numerous challenges such as poverty, poor economic growth, and inequalities. The speech means a lot to me. It gives me the impression of the injustices underwent by the women in the U.S.A. during 1800s. It provides me with….

Works Cited

Berg, Gary A.. Low-income students and the perpetuation of inequality higher education in America. Farnham, Surrey, England: Ashgate, 2010. Print.

"The History Place - Great Speeches Collection: Susan B. Anthony Speech - Women's Right to Vote." The History Place - Great Speeches Collection: Susan B. Anthony Speech - Women's Right to Vote. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Aug. 2014. .

Attribution Theories

Attribution Theories In general terms, attribution theories are a person's psychological response to a conflict in an effort to explain the cause of the contention. While these theories may apply to any given situation, they are often closely intertwined with more intimate, interpersonal relationships. People in such relationships may attempt to explain their own actions or the actions of the other person in terms that may mitigate their own culpability. The ability to explain why someone would act or behave in a certain way may help a person alleviate the stress associated with the conflict. There are several different types of attribution theories that people use to explain another's behavior but three of them in particular are often cited in relationship studies. Many people in a relationship may attempt to attribute their counterpart's behavior to personal vs. situational causes. In this way, a person seems to believe that another person acted in….

Attribution Bias: Personal Anecdotes One of the most common sources of conflict in relationships is incorrect interpretations of motivation. Because people are narcissistic and cannot always project themselves into the mindset of others, they focus on personality-based vs. situational reasons for behavior and misbehavior. A good example of this was a source of conflict during one of my years in middle school. My English class consistently ran late. Because it was located on the other side of the building, this meant that I was always late for math class the following period. My math teacher was a stickler about promptness, and was clearly prejudiced against me because she interpreted my lateness as rudeness and saw it as an expression of a lack of concern and respect for her class. However, the fault lay with my earlier teacher and the fact that I was too young and shy to ask my English….

Facts and Theories

Theories Two attribution theories applied to marketing include the correspondent inference theory and self-perception theory. The first applies causal attribution to determine the nature of a customer's behavior based on behavioral cues. The cues are derived from a single behavior in a particular situation. Therefore, information on its generalizability can be inferred from the behavior (Wang, 2008). Self-perception theory operates on the premise that behavioral cues emerge from both the observer and the person being observed. Two sets of causal attribution are therefore possible and can be synthesized on the basis of both sets of observations. Other theories include the brand personality dimensions framework, which operates to compare measured brand personalities, and the hierarchy of effects models, which help marketers to determine the effect of specific advertising techniques on consumers (Marketing Journal, 2005). Both propositions and hypotheses are statements; the content of these statements, however, differ significantly. A proposition, for example states….

Live Science (2012, Jul. 10). Deductive Reasoning vs. Inductive Reasoning. Retrieved from:  http://www.livescience.com/21569-deduction-vs.-induction.html 

Marketing Journal (2005). 13 Useful Marketing Theories. Retrieved from: http://www.marketingjournalblog.com/2005/11/13-useful-marketing-theories.html

Rao, N. (2012, Nov 2). What is the difference between preposition and hypothesis? Retrieved from:  http://phd-research-methodology.blogspot.com/2012/11/what-is-difference-between-proposition.html 

Wang, Y.J. (2008, May). The application of attribution theories in marketing research: a critique. Review of Business Research, 8(3). Retrieved from: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/article/Review-Business-Research/190699889.html

George Kelly's Theory Is a

("Kelly Psychology of Personal Constructs," 2005) Social Cognitive theories are a primary focus in today's clinical world. The person is seen as a proactive vs. reactive organizer of his or her life. Utilizing the main concepts of this theory explain why Jane is having such difficulty coping with life? How would Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck intervene in Jane's lifestyle? The social cognitive theory is when there is focus on learning by watching what others do. The successes and failures that they experience are used to shape how the individual will view the world around them and their role in it. This is accomplished by teaching them techniques during the process that can be applied to their daily lives. (Santrock, 2008, pp. 26 -- 30) When this occurs on a regular basis, is the point that the person will begin to use these events as experiences that will shape how they….

The Beginning of Cognitivist. (2002). All Psych. Retrieved from:

 http://allpsych.com/personalitysynopsis/kelly.html 

Kelly Psychology of Personal Constructs. (2005). Find Psychology. Retrieved from:

 http://fiupsychology.com/feist15.htm

Dispositional Attributions Attribution Differences in

29, p > 0.5). Discussion This study set out to test the hypotheses that people from Eastern cultural backgrounds compared to those from Western backgrounds would make fewer dispositional attributions about the behavior of fictitious characters that the read about and would also demonstrate a more collective attitude towards themselves. With respect to the first hypothesis, that Western participants would make a greater number of dispositional attributions that would participants with Eastern cultural heritages, that hypothesis was supported. However, there are a few caveats that need to be mentioned with regards to this. First, the scenarios that were presented to the participants only provided two alternatives to explain the behavior of the person. One alternative was a negative dispositional explanation, the other was a situational explanation could have been interpreted as far-fetched in some cases. Miller (1984) found that the tendency for Westerners to make internal attributions was higher for deviant behaviors. Morris….

Chiu, C-y., Morris, M.W., Hong, Y-y., & Menon, T. (2000). Motivated cultural cognition: the impact of implicit cultural theories on dispositional attribution varies as a function of need for closure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 247 -- 259.

Choi, I., Dalal, R., Kim-Prieto, C., & Park, H. (2003). Culture and judgment of causal relevance.

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 46 -- 59.

Jones, E.E. & Harris, V.A. (1967). The attribution of attitudes. Journal of Experimental and Social Psychology, 3, 2-24.

Leadership Theories the Objective of

The four lanchard leadership styles include: 1) directive; 2) managing; 3) coaching; and 4) delegating. (Clawson, 1989) 2) House's Path Goal Theory of Leadership - the motivational function of the leader consists of increasing personal payoffs to subordinates for work-goal attainment and making the path to these payoffs easier to travel by clarifying it, reducing roadblocks and pitfalls, and increasing the opportunities for personal satisfaction en route. (Clawson,1989) V. CHARISMATIC THEORY Charismatic leadership is measured by: (1) Followers' trust in the correctness of the leader's belief; (2) similarity of followers' beliefs to the leader's beliefs; (3) unquestioning acceptance of the leader by followers; (4) followers' affection for the leader; (5) followers' willing obedience to the leader; (6) emotional involvement of followers in the mission of the organization; (7) heightened performance goals of followers; and (8) belief of followers that they are able to contribute to the success of the group's mission. (Clawson, Charismatic leaders have the….

Bibliography

Liu, W., Lepak, D.P., Takeuchi, R., and Sims, H.P (2003) Matching Leadership Styles with Employment modes: Strategic Human Resource Management Perspective. Human Resource Management Review. 13 (2003).

Clawson, J.G. (1989) Leadership Theories. University of Virginia Darden School Foundation. Charlottesville, VA. Online SSRN Research.

Stodgills Handbook of Leadership (1981) revised Bernard M. Bass New York: The Free Press 1981.

Mintzberg, Henry (1973) Mintzberg's Ten Managerial Roles -the Nature of Managerial Work 1973.

Leadership Path Goal Theory the Boy Scouts

Leadership Path Goal Theory The Boy Scouts" using the "path- goal theory Leadership theories Path Goal Theory Explain how the theory works and include an example Explain the effect of power and influence that leaders have on followers in the organization Are the followers receptive? Would you recommend another strategy? Transformational Leadership Transactional Leadership Evaluate the role of transformational and transformational leadership in the organization Effectiveness of transformational and transactional leadership in the organization Examples Assess the traits and characteristics of an effective team leader within the organization Explain how the leadership supports vision, mission, and strategy in the organization If you were the leader in the organization, what would you change and why? Conclusion eferences Introduction: The leadership theories are different in their relevance and approach, however, the importance of effective leadership cannot be undermined in operations of a successful organization. The boy scouts and other military organizations also deploy various leadership and management practices in order to motivate their members. It further leads them for successful operations….

References:

Bolman, L.G., & Deal, T.E. (2011). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice and leadership. USA: Jossey-Bass.

Samson, D., & Daft, R.L. (2009). Fundamentals of management. Australia: Cengage Learning.

Winkler, I. (2010). Contemporary leadership theories. USA: Springer.

Mind and Human Behavior Theories

Mind and Human Behavior Define and discuss a particular theory of consciousness Consciousness can be best grasped in context as a facet of an interactive wakeful state wherein most cognitive processing occurs non-consciously. However, on combining non-conscious and conscious processing in the wakeful state, how can we differentiate one from the other, how can consciousness be defined, and what purpose does it serve? The conclusions drawn with respect to the former question critically influence how the latter question is answered. What property makes a state non-conscious rather than conscious? This section will support the argument that, out of all possible answers commonly put forth (i.e., accessibility, intentionality, reflexivity, subjectivity), the element-- reflexive, auto noetic-consciousness -- is the only one observed solely in the state of consciousness (Peters, 2013). The Quantum Theory of Consciousness The consciousness issue has opposed traditional approaches, in which the human brain is perceived as a computer having synapses and….

Albensi, B.C. and Janigro, D. (2003).Traumatic brain injury and its effects on synaptic plasticity. Brain Inj. 17(8): p. 653-63.

Anderson, J. R. (1990). Cognitive psychology and its implications. New York: Freeman.

Cerasoli, C. P., & Ford, M. T. (2014). Intrinsic Motivation, Performance, and the Mediating Role of Mastery Goal Orientation: A Test of Self-Determination Theory.JournalOf Psychology, 148(3), 267-286. doi:10.1080/00223980.2013.783778

Eccles, J. S., & Wigfield, A. (2002).Motivational beliefs, values, and goals.Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 109-132.

Research Paper

Attribution Theory Human behavior is a complex process and the attribution theories try to explain it by discussing the psychological processes going on. It discusses the causes as well as…

Attribution Theory Industrial organization Industrial organizational theory: The usefulness of attribution theory in a modern organization like Google Attribution theory Attribution theory attempts to explain how human beings attach meaning to their own behavior…

Research Proposal

The findings are expected to reveal interesting facts about the core motivations and external factors leading to juvenile delinquency. Parents and teachers will also be asked how they view…

Furthermore, the significance of this theory also extends to issues relating to health. This refers to the fact that the individual differences in attribution style and perception can lead…

Article Review

Attribution Theory Covered in the eadings Human beings are naturally an inquisitive set of species; they are always wondering how and why things occur. For this reason, they create…

Transportation

ole Attribution Theory Plays in How Perceptions About Others Are Formed in the Workplace Anyone who has ever worked in an organizational setting can readily attest to the need to…

Communication and Sociology Communication The speech by Susan Anthony depicts the way in which the U.S. women were denied their constitution right to vote during the early 1800s. The speech shows…

Family and Marriage

Attribution Theories In general terms, attribution theories are a person's psychological response to a conflict in an effort to explain the cause of the contention. While these theories may apply…

Attribution Bias: Personal Anecdotes One of the most common sources of conflict in relationships is incorrect interpretations of motivation. Because people are narcissistic and cannot always project themselves into the…

Black Studies - Philosophy

Theories Two attribution theories applied to marketing include the correspondent inference theory and self-perception theory. The first applies causal attribution to determine the nature of a customer's behavior based…

("Kelly Psychology of Personal Constructs," 2005) Social Cognitive theories are a primary focus in today's clinical world. The person is seen as a proactive vs. reactive organizer of his…

29, p > 0.5). Discussion This study set out to test the hypotheses that people from Eastern cultural backgrounds compared to those from Western backgrounds would make fewer dispositional attributions about…

The four lanchard leadership styles include: 1) directive; 2) managing; 3) coaching; and 4) delegating. (Clawson, 1989) 2) House's Path Goal Theory of Leadership - the motivational function of the leader consists…

Leadership Path Goal Theory The Boy Scouts" using the "path- goal theory Leadership theories Path Goal Theory Explain how the theory works and include an example Explain the effect of power and influence that…

Mind and Human Behavior Define and discuss a particular theory of consciousness Consciousness can be best grasped in context as a facet of an interactive wakeful state wherein most cognitive…

Attribution Theory in Communication Essay

Introduction.

The given assessment will primarily focus on the attribution theory with an emphasis put on its summative analysis, implications for communication practice, and pros and cons assessment. It is important to note that attribution theory deals with the meaning projection and comprehension of individuals when faced with new situations, behaviors, and information. Since communication is heavily reliant on the involvement and exchange of information between at least two parties, the attribution theory can provide invaluable insight and perspective on the field of communication practice.

Summary of Key Concepts of the Attribution Theory

It should be noted that human beings are highly social creatures which are constantly involved in the meaning-making process when it comes to interactions. Attribution is a concept that explains humans’ attempts to explain and understand a particular behavior by attributing and projecting internal and external conditions, factors, and influences. Therefore, attribution can be highly useful and insightful, but it is also prone to errors, mistakes, and false assumptions since it heavily relies on a receiving and interpreting observer. Historically, Fritz Heider was the first psychologist to develop the foundation of attribution theory, who established two main aspects of the theory, which are still used today (Shaver 22). These include dispositional attribution and situational attribution, where the former refers to internal explanations and the latter involves external elaborations. For example, an individual might be observed as being angry, for which the dispositional attribution could be that this particular person is simply hot-tempered and has anger management issues. However, the situational or external attribution would focus on external factors, where the angry person might as such due to losing something valuable or experiencing some form of injustice. Therefore, a behavior can be explained through two different perspectives, which are dispositional or internal and situational or external.

One of the core concepts of the attribution theory is actor-observer bias. The given phenomenon addresses the human tendency to attribute external factors to one’s own behavior and attribute internal factors to other individuals’ behavior (Shaver 62). In other words, a person tends to be less judgmental of his or her own character compared to other people. For example, if a male person A regularly fails to get the top grades in his classes, he is more likely to attribute the causes as being external, such as incompetence of an educator, poor class format, or the lack of conditions for proper studying. However, if another person B observes person A and sees his grades, the former is more likely to attribute the failure to get top grades to person A’s internal factors, such as laziness, low intelligence, and lack of diligence. Therefore, the attribution is highly biased, depending on whether the actor or observer is performing the attribution of the behavior.

Moreover, the internal attribution is also more likely to occur depending on the degree of freedom possessed by the actor when exhibiting the behavior, which is the prime focus of the correspondent inference theory (Shaver 84). Thus, people are more likely to attribute behavior to one’s character if the actor is free to do otherwise. For example, observers are more likely to attribute the frugality of a person with low socioeconomic status to his or her situation, such as poverty, whereas the frugality of a wealthy person is more likely to be attributed to his or her character, such as being greedy. In addition, there are other factors that make the use of internal attributions more likely, which include directly helpful and harmful behaviors, behaviors directed at an individual, and particularly unusual behaviors (Shaver 101). For example, if woman A is walking down the street, and a man B starts to catcall her, she is more likely to attribute the behavior to man B’s character rather than external factors. The main reason is that catcalling is harmful, directed at a specific person, and unusual or abnormal; thus, the behavior is most likely to be attributed to one’s personality.

Another key concept of attribution theory is Kelley’s covariation model. The given framework provides a more in-depth analysis of correspondent inference theory. A person is more or less likely to make internal attributions on the basis of three major factors: consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency (Shaver 107). When a behavior is low on both consistency, consensus, and distinctiveness, the attributions are made to the circumstances and situations. However, when there is high consistency and low distinctiveness and consensus, the attribution is made towards characters or dispositions. Consensus refers to the behavioral pattern as well as its outcome of surrounding individuals or other people. Consistency refers to the consistent exhibition of similar behavior in similar circumstances. Distinctiveness refers to how distinct the given behavior is from other behaviors exhibited by the person. For example, if person A gets an A+ grade on the history exam while others get lower grades, then the consensus is low. If person A also always performed well in all other classes and performed excellently through the history class, his distinctiveness is low, and consistency is high. Under such conditions, the attribution should be and will most likely be made to person A character or internal factors. Therefore, the variation of these three factors gives influences the target of the attribution from disposition to a situation.

Implications for Communication Practice

The implications of the attribution theory are massive in regard to communication practice, especially in a professional context. The first case representative of the attribution concept is the German automotive company Volkswagen AG (VW). In 2015, it was involved in a scandal for using software cheat to underreport its diesel emissions (Painter and Martins 204). The incident led to a major crisis both for the company and the automotive industry since it became possible that other companies might have been doing a similar activity. For the given case, the attribution theory “will inform understanding of the crisis management strategies used by VW to mitigate the effects of the emissions scandal in terms of customer response and legal liability” (Painter and Martins 206).

The main reason for utilizing this particular theoretical framework is manifested in the fact that the theory explains the cause for behavior by showing whether or not the action is due to disposition or situation. For example, VW could have positioned the company as a victim of situational factors or the company’s internally poor management of its technical measurements. The analysis reveals that “attributions regarding the origins of the software deceit are for the most part internal: they are either attributions to individual employees or attributions of disposition with respect to the company itself” (Painter and Martins 214). In other words, the crisis management response primarily used internal factors as the core rhetoric when describing the cause of such deceit. VW was unable to highlight situational factors since the consensus level was low because no other company was involved in the scandal. In addition, the behavior was low on consistency but high on distinctiveness, which makes the situation unambiguously inclined towards disposition. Therefore, it is evident that the role of the attribution theory played a critical role in the response of VW to the scandal, where it chose to attribute the deceit to the company itself rather than pinpointing circumstantial factors.

The second case of the attribution theory is centered around the blame attribution among European citizens in regard to its governance on both national and European levels in the context of populist messages. It is stated that “previous research on attributions of responsibility—a concept strongly related to populist blame attribution—indicates that citizens’ political attitudes are affected by messages that emphasize who should be blamed for causing political problems” (Hameleers et al. 872). In other words, the factor of attribution plays a critical role in determining whether or not politically perceived problems will be attributed to the government or external factors. The emphasis of the given case is put on emotional blame attribution. It is stated that “with the exception of blame perceptions toward the EU, identity attachment functioned as a perceptual screen, moderating the effects of populist blame attributions on perceptions toward the political establishment” (Hameleers et al. 884). The findings suggest that a citizen with a strong national identity was more likely to attribute the blame to the EU rather than the national government, whereas individuals with a weaker national identity were more eager to accept the blame on the local governance.

It is also stated that “populist communication that attributes blame to the national government needs to use an emotional style to be effective, whereas populist communication influences blame perceptions toward the EU by mentioning that the EU is responsible for causing the problems of the heartland” (Hameleers et al. 890). In other words, the element of attribution can be affected by external forces in order to promote more or less disposition, which, in this case, is the blame of the national government. Populist messages and communication increase or decrease a perceived degree of consensus, which can impact the inclined pathway of attribution. For example, a German citizen might either attribute the cause of social issues to the German government, which is a disposition, or to the EU, which is external. The judgment of attribution is influenced by the factors of consensus, consistency, and distinctiveness of a social problem in the national context. Populist communication might be able to persuade that such events are common in all other EU nations, which would increase consensus and thus promote EU blame. However, if populist messages precisely highlight the German issue as a key narrative, then one would be inclined to blame the national government. It should be noted that a multitude of factors also influence the attribution process, such as national identity since a patriotic person will most likely blame the EU even under low consensus factors.

The third case is focused on the attribution patterns of global consumers in regard to corporate social responsibility or CSR initiatives. It is stated that “individuals with a dispositional attribution style responded more favorably to evidence-based CSR messages than to belief-based messages, while those with a situational attribution style responded more favorably to belief-based messages than to evidence-based messages” (Lim et al. 11). In other words, a person can attribute a CSR initiative to either a company’s inherent disposition or external forces, such policies mandating a company to implement in this manner. The results are indicative of the fact that people with dispositional inclinations need facts to attribute a CSR initiative to the company’s internal factors, whereas individuals with non-dispositional stances need to see a company’s beliefs and values. It is evident that such a framework has major implications in professional communication, especially in regard to public relations or PR.

Pros and Cons of the Attribution Theory

Although the attribution theory is a comprehensive framework, which has strong predictive capabilities in regard to attribution, it is important to highlight and identify its key strengths and weaknesses. The main advantage of the theory is the most prominent when the cause is known but needs to be communicated. In other words, communication professionals can use the attribution framework to address or attribute the cause by communicating in accordance with the tendencies of individual dispositions or external attributions. For example, a company helped a vulnerable community in the region of interest, which means that a communication professional knows the cause of such action to be the company itself and not some government mandate or policy. In this case, professional communication needs to communicate dispositional attribution towards the company, not external forces, which can be done by adhering to low consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency.

Another strength of attribution theory is rooted in the fact that it can identify a probable cause when assessing an unknown party of interest. For instance, a company wants to better understand its customers and consumers in the market by identifying the likely cause of the current consumer behaviors. A communication professional can assess the common behaviors and change the marketing and PR narrative to influence these behaviors if the cause is situational or external. In other words, the attribution theory expands the capabilities of professional communication specialists to be able to find novel solutions in addition to the standard ones. The attribution theory is of greatest importance during crisis management when communication professionals need to defend the organization or minimize the effect of public distrust and blame.

Moreover, the attribution theory can help to identify potential biases during cross-cultural communication and eliminate them to improve the communication process conducted by professionals. The concept of attribution plays a critical part in the communication process and practice, particularly in cross-cultural communication and interpersonal one in professional environments. In the case of the former, the cultural differences create a large gap for potential bias and causal errors in interpreting one’s actions. In the case of the latter, interpersonal communications contain a higher degree of detailed information about each party, which makes a more in-depth use of the attribution theory. The success of intercultural communication, including professional communication, largely depends not only on the level of proficiency in a foreign language but also on the adequate perception of the communication partner and the correct interpretation of his communicative behavior. At the same time, the criterion of the effectiveness of cross-cultural communication is the achievement of mutual understanding by partners in the process of intercultural dialogue.

However, such mutual understanding is not always possible due to the fact that in the course of intercultural interaction, the student inevitably faces the problem of communicative failures if there are obstacles in the transmission and adequate perception, understanding, assimilation, and assessment of the message by intercultural communicants. The factors contributing to the emergence of communication barriers and, accordingly, interfering with the correct perception and assessment of partners in intercultural communication can be attributed to social and perceptual factors that characterize any communication and factors that characterize exclusively cross-cultural interaction. The first group includes the inability to determine the motives and intentions of people in a specific communication situation, the presence of predetermined attitudes, beliefs, assessments, the presence of formed ethnic stereotypes, and the underdevelopment of the ability for empathy. The second group of factors includes ignorance of the characteristics of the national character of the communication partner and dominant features of verbal and non-verbal behavior inherent in his type of culture.

The primary weakness of the attribution theory is its “either-or” format in regard to causes. It is important to note that many behaviors and actions can be the result of a multitude of factors, some of which are attributable to personality and others to situations. However, the attribution theory is blind to these complex cases, which is why overreliance on such a simplistic measure might yield simplistic communication with no special attention paid to key details. For example, the attribution theory fails when discussing controversial behaviors, such as why women choose to abort a baby or want the abortion to be legal and accessible. It is evident that it would be inaccurate to attribute such behavior to women’s disposition or situation since this action is influenced by a range of factors.

Another weakness of the attribution theory is the difference in perception between an actor and observer, which results in a possibility of attribution bias. Since the attribution theory focuses on the cause of behavior, such as external or internal, it can be blind to non-evident biases, which is why communication professionals should be aware of not promoting or increasing the degree of biases by not being able to identify their nature.

The phenomenon of attribution is of great importance for understanding the causes of communication failures in the process of cross-cultural communication. In the theory of intercultural communication, this concept came from social psychology, where attribution is the act of attributing some directly, not perceived property, to some object, person, or phenomenon. If the attribution of causes to events and actions observed and experienced by an individual is characterized as incorrect and unreasonable, especially in situations where these actions seem unusual or different from the expected, which are called attribution errors. In intercultural communication, attribution errors are usually associated with misinterpretation of the motives of the behavior of communicative partners. The personal qualities of communication partners, the relationship of communicants, as well as the attitude of communication partners to the communication situation can be interpreted erroneously. At the same time, the reasons for behavior are seen exclusively in personal factors, in internal dispositions, and the influence of general cultural norms inherent in a particular linguistic culture, situational and group factors are underestimated.

In conclusion, the attribution theory is a highly comprehensive framework that aims to understand the cause of behavior through the attribution dynamics and patterns. The attributions can be either external or internal, such as attributing behavior to one’s personality or circumstances. Consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency play a critical role in determining the attribution of behavior, where low levels in each create a disposition.

Works Cited

Hameleers, Michael, et al. “‘They Did It: The Effects of Emotionalized Blame Attribution in Populist Communication.” Communication Research , vol. 44, no. 6, 2017, pp. 870–900.

Lim, Rachel Esther, et al. “Connecting with Global Consumers Through Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives: A Cross-Cultural Investigation of Congruence Effects of Attribution and Communication Styles.” Journal of Business Research , vol. 88, 2018, pp. 11-19.

Painter, Christopher, and Jorge Tiago Martins. “Organisational Communication Management During the Volkswagen Diesel Emissions Scandal: A Hermeneutic Study in Attribution, Crisis Management, And Information Orientation.” Knowledge and Process Management , vol. 24, no. 3, 2017, pp. 204-218.

Shaver, Kelly G. An Introduction to Attribution Processes . Routledge, 2018.

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Attribution Theory Essay

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Attribution Theory in Achievement Levels

Introduction, the situation, theoretical analysis, fundamental attribution error in the theory, discounting principle in attribution theory, works cited.

Different people use various methods to interpret and understand the elements of their world. Consequently, different theories are used to explain how people understand and interpret the behaviours of others. The theory of attribution was developed with the aim of helping individuals to understand and explain the “causes of behaviours and events” (Kelley and Michela 480). Attribution theory consists of several methods and models that shed light on how individuals assign causes to the end results of events. Attribution theory has since been used to explain several human conditions and behaviours. In addition, the attribution theory covers several theorists and scholars who have borrowed or added to its research.

One of the pioneers of attribution theory is Fritz Heider whose work is considered as the earliest known contribution on the subject. Heider’s work came before the propositions on the theory of helplessness. Another psychologist who made contributions to the attribution theory is Bernard Weiner. Weiner’s research on attribution theory focused on student motivation and its causes. Theorists concur that “there are two types of attribution as defined by this theory; interpersonal and external attributions” (Kelley and Michela 458). In situations of external attribution, individuals usually attribute particular behaviours or events to factors that are outside their control. On the other hand, interpersonal attribution applies to situations that involve actions that touch on more than one person like in cases of blame-shifting. This paper is a study of a real-life application of attribution theory in relation to levels of achievement between different individuals.

Success and failure are two factors that are often difficult to understand and assess because they appear random to most people. Consequently, these two factors have often been attributed to a number of factors, including luck, opportunity, and ability. In this scenario, we will investigate the success and failures of two different students with respect to attribution theory. The two students are Farah and Amani, and they are both fourth graders. The two students attend the same school, take the same subjects, they are taught by the same teachers, they are of the same age, but their background information varies to some extent.

Farah was born in a family of five children, and she is the second last child. Farah has three elder brothers and a sister who is in preschool. All of Farah’s elder brothers are high achieving students in their own right, and they are all-star students. On the other hand, Farah is a low achieving student, and she is mostly a below-average student. Farah’s father believes girls cannot perform as well as boys, and he constantly uses this information to comfort his low-achieving daughter. When the report cards of all the children are sent to the house, Farah’s father begins by opening those of his sons and finishes by examining that of his daughter whom she assures all will be well. Farah’s performance is particularly worse in science subjects; a field that she has heard is reserved for ‘boyish careers’.

Amani, on the other hand, is an only child who is primarily raised by her mother. Amani’s parents are divorced, but they both mentor her and offer her educational advice from time to time. Amani’s parents have made it clear that they expect her to be on top of her class at whatever cost. Her mother has reiterated that she was a good student from the onset, and that is how she became a high-flying lawyer. In addition, Amani is often rewarded for her top performance by being offered summer trips and other gifts. Amani’s parents also discourage her from giving them excuses in instances where her performance levels drop.

The performance levels of both Farah and Amani will be investigated using various models of attribution theory. The secret behind the failures and successes of the two students will be explained with respect to types, sub-theories, biases, errors, and applications of attribution theory.

Attribution theory maintains that there are definite connections between success and failure on one hand and motivation on the other. Several theorists have made a connection between motivation and levels of performance. The pioneer of attribution theory, Fritz Heider hypothesized in his original dissertation that “perceivers attribute the properties of an object they sense, such as its colour, texture and so on, to the object itself when those properties exist only in their minds” (Kelley and Michela 487). This hypothesis shows that it is possible to point out the fundamental differences in perception between Farah and Amani. Farah perceives that high academic performance is outside of her basic abilities. On the other hand, Amani perceives that she has the ability and the means to attain high academic levels. It is also important to note that the perceptions of both students have been fixed in their consciousness by their primary caregivers.

To understand the element of Amani and Farah’s motivation in relation to attribution theory, it is prudent to explore some research studies. A study that was conducted by Hareli and Hess concentrated on how various students respond to feedback concerning their performance (Hareli and Hess 270). It has been argued that motivation levels are greatly impacted by the attributions of other people. For instance, a student is likely to be offended by a hurtful remark from a friend and appreciate a positive consideration from similar sources. Therefore, parents’ remarks are likely to have a compounded effect on both Amani and Farah. When a research study was conducted to gauge the impact of feedback on student performance, it became clear that negative reactions to bad comments have a harmful impact on motivation. This study can help explain why Farah is an under achiever while Amani’s performance is always enviable. The core differences lie in the comments of their parents. Consequently, positive comments from Amani’s parents have generated the ability to perform better than the students who have to deal with negative feedback from their caretakers.

The attribution theory has various theories and sub models that can be used to explain the differences between Farah and Amani’s performances. The correspondent inference theory claims that “people make inferences about a person when his or her actions are freely chosen, are unexpected, and result in a small number of desirable effects” (Dresel, Schober and Ziegler 34). Therefore, the two students’ parents make ‘correspondent inferences’ based on their children’s contexts. First, Farah’s father explains her daughter’s situation using her gender as context. On the other hand, Amani’s mother explains the situation of her daughter using the context of her own academic prowess. According to correspondent theory, individuals are likely to make conclusions based on these three factors; “degree of choice, expectedness of behaviour, and effects of someone’s behaviours” (Kelley and Michela 484). Expectedness of behaviour prompts Farah’s father to expect her daughter to perform worse than his sons. On the other hand, expectedness of behaviour prompts Amani’s parents to expect good academic results from their daughter.

Another inference model is the ‘covariation model’. The covariation model proposes that individuals will characterize certain actions in accordance with identifiable factors. Therefore, people tend to attribute certain behaviours to the characteristics that are available when these actions occur. In this case, Amani’s parents expect her to perform well in school because her mother was good in academics. However, it is probable that Amani’s parents would not make the same inference about their daughter if her mother was an under-achiever in school.

The “fundamental attribution error is the tendency to overvalue dispositional or personality-based explanations for behaviour while under-valuing situational explanations” (Kelley and Michela 500). This theoretical model explains the oversights that could be made when explaining Farah and Amani’s situations. The fundamental attribution error can be found in almost every scenario where behavioural explanations are being made. Farah’s father explains her daughter’s poor performance by arguing that she cannot perform as well as his sons. Gender is used to explain Farah’s poor performance in school. On the other hand, fundamental attribution error would refute this hypothesis using situational explanations.

For instance, Farah’s poor performance in school may be explained using simple facts such as she does not work hard in school or she has a learning disability. However, the person making the perceptions (Farah’s father) overvalues the gender characteristics whilst failing to appreciate situational considerations such as hard work and personal abilities. The element of judgment applies to the situations of the two students. When individuals are making random or thought-out judgments, they are mostly seeking to appeal to their personal attitudes. For instance, Amani’s mother judges her daughter as an honours’ student to appeal to her personal attitude as a scholar. On the other hand, Farah’s father is appealing to his attitudes about the superiority of the male gender by attributing his daughter’s low achievements to her femininity.

When one is using the attribution theory to explain human behaviours, it is likely that he/she will “attach less importance to one potential cause of some behaviour when other potential causes are also present” (Harvey and Weary 67). This scenario can be explained using the discounting principle of attribution theory. The discounting principle of attribution theory helps in explaining the selective nature of human beings when they are drawing conclusions. For example, Farah’s inability to perform well in school is explained using her gender predispositions.

However, Farah’s gender is just one of many possible causes of her behaviour. For instance, other causes of her behaviour might include but are not limited to laziness, learning disability, bullying in school, and poor teachers. Nevertheless, Farah’s father attaches less importance to all other potential causes of her daughter’s behaviour. There are several explanations for the discounting principle including the tendency among individuals to serve their own biases. Human beings tend to attribute causality to factors that are beyond their control. For example, if Amani starts performing poorly in school, her parents are not likely to consider themselves as causes of this behaviour.

Dresel, Markus, Barbara Schober, and Albert Ziegler. “Nothing more than dimensions? Evidence for a surplus meaning of specific attributions.” The Journal of Educational Research 99.1 (2005): 31-45. Print.

Hareli, Shlomo, and Ursula Hess. “When does feedback about success at school hurt? The role of causal attributions.” Social Psychology of Education 11.3 (2008): 259-272. Print.

Harvey, John and Gifford Weary. Attribution: Basic issues and applications , New York: Academic, 2005. Print.

Kelley, Harold H., and John L. Michela. “Attribution theory and research.” Annual review  of psychology 31.1 (2008): 457-501. Print.

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Attribution is a causal justification of an event or an action. The process of attribution is usually automatic and often subconscious (Borkowski, 2007). Attribution theory was first proposed by Fritz Heider and describes the way people perceive reasons for their behaviour in response to a particular environmental condition (Martinko, 2004). Although the theory is related to the concept of motivation, it does not describe the objectives of behaviour but its underlying reasons. Weiner tried to connect attribution theory to the achievement theory, claiming that people seek accomplishments and try to avoid failures according to their perceived causes of a particular outcome (Hollyforde & Whiddett, 2002). The main assumption of the theory, therefore, is that individuals strive to support positive self-image (Vockell). In fact, attribution theory links the perceived abilities of the person to the complexity of the task, connecting performance to the external environmental conditions, such as opportunity and luck.

People usually tend to find causes of a particular outcome in terms of three dimensions. Firstly, they determine the reason of success or failure as internal or external. Internal factors usually arise within, while external factors can be attributed to the effect of the environment. Secondly, the cause of an outcome is defined as either stable or unstable. If the cause is stable, the result will be the same when the same actions are repeated. However, if the outcome is different every time the action is performed, the cause is believed to be unstable. Lastly, the reason for success or failure may be either controllable or uncontrollable. While controllable factors can be altered by the individuals, uncontrollable ones are believed to be unalterable. However, the evaluation according to these three factors is not objective, since attribution of success largely depends on the perceived rather than the actual causes of the outcome (Vockell).

Attribution theory can be widely applied in the organizational setting. It provides the means for managers to explain the way individuals determine causes of particular events or actions and attribute meaning to their behaviour based on these causes. The process of attribution usually occurs in three phases, according to Wiener: behaviour observation, evaluation of the deliberate nature of the behaviour and attribution of it to the internal or external causes. According to the main assumption of the attribution theory, people try to maximise their positive self-image. Therefore, they tend to attribute their failures to external factors, which they have little control about. The success causes, on the other hand, are likely to be perceived as the result of internal factors, such as ability or extensive effort. Thus, lateness is very likely to be explained by the external factors, such as traffic or large distance to work, while task achievement is perceived to be the result of external factors, for example hard work or creativity. The situation is quite similar to the controllable and uncontrollable causes of behaviour.

If employees believe that they have little control over the outcome of a project or a task, they are unlikely to maximize their efforts for the achievement of the outcome. If there is a clear causation between a particular behaviour in the organization and the outcome, people tend to perceive the environment as stable. Stability can be a strong motivator for employees, since it guarantees that their efforts will be always appreciated, while their failures treated consistently. Thus, if a successful completion of every project yields a bonus, individuals are likely to expect a reward every time a project is completed. If this is not the case, employees will not be motivated to perform at their best, since the outcome of their behaviour is not consistent over time. The stability dimension should be also considered, when hiring and firing employees. If low performance is attributed to the unstable factors, such as the lack of effort or motivation, the situation is possible to improve in the future. However, if the cause of underperformance is rooted in the insufficient abilities, it is not wise to expect any progress in the future (Borkowski, 2007).

Based on the attribution theory, it is possible to develop certain guidelines, which would promote more efficient attribution of the behavioural outcomes by the employees. Firstly, it is necessary to convince people that their failures are not attributed to their competence or abilities, but to the controllable factors, such as effort. However, developing a belief that success has been derived solely from the abilities may be detrimental, as employees will be reluctant to exert additional effort for completion of the next task. Moreover, it is necessary to take into consideration that repeated failures may have a significant impact on the employee motivation. People start to perceive their failures as the result of chance or lack of competence, thus limiting their effort in the next projects. Therefore, the task of a manger is to maintain employee motivation by emphasizing the importance of internal controllable factors and to create a way to make people perceive themselves as successful at least in some tasks. Finally, the organization should have clear tasks and objectives assigned to particular roles. In this way employees can evaluate whether their efforts were sufficient for a successful completion of a project, and can benchmark their results against the desired outcomes.

Attribution theory is very influential for explaining human behaviour in the diverse environments of organizations. The way people perceive the causes of their actions can be used as a powerful tool to influence motivation and efforts. Therefore, successful alignment of the differences in the organization is often based on aligning employee perceptions (Robinson, 2007). Managers, who understand that performance evaluation is not objective, but depends on the employees’ attribution of the results to their causes, can manage to steer the efforts of the organization in the correct direction and to maximize employees’ efficiency and performance.

Borkowski, N. (2007). Organizational behavior, theory, and design in health care. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Hollyforde, S., & Whiddett, S. (2002). Motivation handbook. Trowbridge, the United Kingdom: Cromwell Press. Martinko, M. J. (2004). Attribution theory in the organizational sciences: theoretical and empirical contributions. Scottsdale, NC: Information Age Publishing. Robinson, C. L. (2007). Diversity science research series. an attribution case analysis: the three social dilemmas of workforce diversity . (Vol. 1). Palo Alto, CA: Fultus Publishing. Vockell, E. (n.d.). Attribution theory. Retrieved from http://education.calumet.purdue.edu /vockell/EdpsyBook/Edpsy5/edpsy5_attribution.htm

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Attribution Theory In Organizational Behavior

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