In social psychology the term attribution has gained a lot of currency. This short write-up explains the meaning of this concept.

1. ATTRIBUTIONS Ian Wairua May 7, 2015
Meaning of the concept of attribution
Attributions are the inferences we make as reasons for our own or other people’s
behaviour and even to understand our experiences. According to Heider’s theory of
attribution, there are two types: external and internal attributions.
External attributions infer that a person has behaved in a certain way as a result of the
particular environment and the attendant circumstances, such that anyone else in the same
situation would behave in similar manner.
Internal attributions infer that a person behaved in a certain way due to factors specific to
that person, such as his unique personality, attitudes and abilities.
When and why people make attributions
People make attributions in order to make the world they live in predictable and therefore
controllable. We have an innate need to maintain a sense of control over our
environment.
People are likely to make external attributions when the observed behaviour is as
expected, or as demanded. When the behaviour is contrary to expectations, people tend to
make internal attributions.
Correspondent Inference Theory predicts that internal attributions will happen when a
correspondence is inferred between motive and behaviour. For instance if a behaviour is
freely chosen, it is attributed to internal factors. Accidental behaviour is externally
attributed unlike intentional behaviour. If behaviour is socially undesirable, e.g. a student
comes to class drunk, then this is internally attributed. Similarly if the person’s behaviour
benefits or harms us, then we tend to infer that the perpetrator is doing it intentionally.
Therefore it will be another case of internal attribution.
Why people may not always engage in objective analysis of behavior
People make errors in analyzing behaviour for various reasons. Sometimes people make
errors of logic or they do not use all the information possible. Instead they may tend to be
guided by central traits of a person and the Halo effect.
Errors may emerge from a generalization fallacy. This refers to ‘jumping to conclusions’
from small sample information and limited experiences. In addition we may suffer from
over-confidence in the accuracy of our judgements, so that new information only tends to

2. confirm existing schemata and it becomes increasingly unlikely to question our
conclusions even if conflicting evidence emerges.
Hind sight bias refers to a tendency to see past events as having been more predictable
than they really were. People also tend to cling to their initial beliefs, even if the facts
point elsewhere, and search for additional reasons to confirm the beliefs. This is a case of
belief perseverance bias.
A person ‘seeing what he wants to see’ is the common expression for cognitive
confirmatory bias. In this case, information is remembered, processed and interpreted
only in a way that merely confirms pre-conceived notions.
Sometimes illusions of control can cloud objective analysis of behaviour or events. For
instance, a gambler may suppose that he can influence laws of chance and win a fortune.
A drunk man may assume he can easily jump over a wide road-side ditch.
A false consensus bias is another cause of error which occurs when we over- estimate
how typical our own beliefs, judgments and behaviors are.
Finally, objective analysis of behaviour may fail simply because such behaviour has
become slanted towards our expectations. In other words we may cause people to behave
in the specific ways we expected, through our words and behaviour that elicits
specifically such a result.
The Covariation Model
This model provides logical foundation for determining whether a particular behaviour is
due to factors that are internal or external. It requires that behaviour be judged based on
information gathered from multiple observations, at different times and situations. Three
criteria are then used:
- Consensus. If the behaviour is judged to be similar to what OTHERS would do in
similar situations, then it is externally attributed.
- Distinctiveness. If the learner always behaves the same way in every similar
SITUATION, then distinctiveness is low and the behaviour is likely to be externally
attributed.
- Consistency: If the learner repeats the same behaviour every TIME, then the
behaviour is unlikely to be due to internal factors.