2. ATTRIBUTION THEORY
Attributions - are the reasons which we give
for our own and others behaviors.
People are motivated to understand the causes
of behavior. Attribution theory seeks to
explain how and why people make these causal
attributions.
5. PERSONAL ATTRIBUTION
Explanations in terms of personal
characteristics. For example:
“The baby must be a happy baby.”
Other examples:
“He scored well on the exam
because he is smart.”
“She tripped because she is clumsy.”
6. SITUTIONAL ATTRIBUTION
Explanations in terms of situational factors. For
example:
“Someone must have just played with the baby .”
Other examples:
“He scored well because it was an easy test.”
“She tripped because a squirrel ran in front of
her.”
7. Fundamental Attribution Error
The fundamental attribution error occurs when we
overestimate how much another person's behavior
can be explained by dispositional factors.
It reflects failing to adequately consider the role
of some situational factors that may affect a
person's behavior
8. Self-serving bias
The self-serving bias is the tendency to
judge oneself in a positive manner even
when the positive evaluation is not justified.
For example:
“I did well on the test because I am smart,”
or
“I did poor on the test because I didn’t get
enough sleep.
9. How do people make attributions?
Kelley argued that people take three
factors into account when making a
personal vs. situational attribution:
Consistency: Is the baby always
smiling?
Distinctiveness: Are there occasions
on which the baby doesn’t smile?
Consensus: Do all babies smile?
10. If consistency is high, and distinctiveness / consensus
are low, then a personal attribution is more likely:
“The baby is always smiling, never displays
other emotions (like crying), and this is not
typical of babies in general. Therefore, this
baby must have a happy disposition.”
If consistency is high, and distinctiveness / consensus
are also high, then a situational attribution is more
likely.
“The baby is always smiling when tickled, but
displays different emotions in other
circumstances. Smiling when tickled is typical
of all babies. Therefore, this baby is smiling
11. Example
A researcher assigned participants to read out loud
either a pro-Castro essay or an anti-Castro essay. A
group of listeners rated the extent to which the reader
held pro-Castro or anti-Castro beliefs.
Even though the listeners knew that the readers had no
choice in which essay to read, the raters judged the pro-
Castro readers as being more pro-Castro than the anti-
Castro readers.
The listeners failed to take into account the strong
situational factor present (that the readers had no choice
about which essay to read).
