Social Psych Chapter 4

Attribution theory (Fritz Heider)

study of how we infer the causes of other people’s behavior

Covariation model (Kelley)

1. when forming attributions about what causes people’s behavior we think about more than one piece of information (consistency, consensus, and distinction)

2. Involves and actor( persons who behavior we observe) and stimulus (person on recieivng end of behavior in question)

Types of Consensus

Definition: The extent to which other people behave the same way toward the same stimulus as the actor does

High: other people also behave same way towards stimulus

Low: other people do NOT behave same way towards stimulus

Types of Distinctiveness

Definition: The extent to which the particular actor behaves in the same way to different stimuli (people)

High: The behavior is distinct to one stimulus

Low: behavior is consistent across different stimuli

Types of consistency

Defintion: The extent to which the behavior between one actor and one stimulus is the same across time and circumstances

high: the actor typically acts same way in similar situation (likely to make an internal attribution)

low: No perceived pattern of behaving this way, difficult to make an attribution, but more likely to make external

covariation information to make an internal or external attribution

Attribution only made when consistency is high, the type of attribution depends on the consensus and distinctiveness information

If Consistency is high and Consensus and Distinctiveness are LOW

we tend to make internal attribution

If Consistency is high and Consensus and Distinctiveness are HIGH

we tend to make an external attribution

2 exceptions with the covariational model

1. People rely more on consistency and distinctiveness information when forming attributions, less on consensus

2. The relevant information needed to make conclusions about the three types of covariation information is NOT always available

what does fundamental attribution error lead to? (overestimate internal factors underestimate external)

Correspondence bias (same thing as fundemental attribution error ig?)

Perceptual Salience

1. The seeming importance of information that is the focus of people’s attention

2. Perceptual salience is what makes us prone to the fundamental attribution error

2 step attribution process

1. characterization - internal attribution (sometimes we simply stop there)

2. correction - take into account external factors that influence persons behavior (requires more cognitive effort

Why are humans cognitive misers?

because we tend to default to automatic thinking since it requires less effort

Self serving attributions

success are credited to internal, dispositional factors, failures are blamed to external situational factors

self serving attribution in sports

Less experienced athletes are more prone to self-serving attributions

Experienced athletes are less likely, more able to accept when a loss is their fault

Why do we make self serving attributions?

to maintain our self esteem

Impression mangement

linked to ones self esteem, wants to ensure people perceive them in a good light

Defensive attribution process (a type of self serving bias to mentally protect ourselves)

People try to make themselves feel better about a disturbing attack by placing some of the blame onto the victim

Bias blind spot

people think that others are more susceptible to attribution biases in their thinking than we are

western v eastern (HOWEVER members across cultures are capable of both attributions!!!!)

western - internal, analytical, dispositional, personality psychologists

east asian - external, holistic, situational, social psychologists