Attribution Theory + Social Identity Theory

What was the name of the researcher who published the Attribution Theory and the date?

They were first described in 1958 by researchers Fritz Heider

Attribution Theory definition?

Attributions are inferences that we make about the causes of events, the behaviour of

others or our own behaviour

What else did researcher Fritz Heider mention on this theory?

• He said that people tend to see the cause of a behaviour or action as being either located within the person (internal) or outside the person (external)

• The attribution theory formed from the idea that people have an innate need to try and understand why things happen the way they do

• When we observe another’s actions, we make decisions about the intention of the action and the responsibility

• The attribution we use tends to be determined by whether we are performing an action, or if we are observing someone else. This is known as the actor-observer bias.

Types of attributions in the attribution theory?

Dispositional (internal) attributions and Situational (external) attributions

Dispositional (internal) attributions

Things like an individual’s traits, ability, motivation, attitude, mood and effort

When we think about the behaviour of others we tend to consider internal factors of their

personality. This is called dispositional attributions.

Situational (external) attributions

When we think about our own behaviour, we tend to consider the environment and external factors.

We buy a pair of shoes, impulsively, but when we are questioned, we blame the pushy shoe

lady. We want to protect our egos and so we blame someone else.

What was the researchers name who developed the Social Identity Theory and the date it was published?

In 1970, Henry Tajfel developed the social identity theory

What is the Social Identity Theory?

In 1970, Henry Tajfel developed the social identity theory, which states that we use groups to

form our social identity. Groups are an important source of pride and self-esteem.

When we belong to a group, we experience a sense of belonging -> this provides us with an

identity in the world that we may not have otherwise had.

Benefits of the Social Identity Theory + example

• To maintain self-esteem, we increase the status of the group.

• We can also increase our image by comparing it against other groups and being

discriminatory towards them

e.g. living in Perth is the best! Melbourne and Sydney are awful. Who would want to live there?

What did Tajfel propose, what are the 3 main processes of the Social Identity Theory?

Tajfel (1979) proposed that there were 3 mental processes that we use to determine and

maintain who is part of our in-group and out-group

1. Social categorization

2. Social identification

3. Social comparison

Social Categorization + example

Social categorization is where we sort people and objects so that we are able to understand ad

identify them. We extend this to ourselves as well, so that we are able to understand our

environment and act appropriately

e.g. if you meet someone from Melbourne, you may assign them to a group ‘Victorian’. When

you do this, you are also assigning ideas to them, such as ‘they must enjoy cold weather’.

Social Identification + example

Social identification is where we adopt the behaviour, attitudes and beliefs of the group we

belong to

e.g. if you identify as being a student you will probably study more, attend school and complain

about homework. If you are an athlete, you will most likely go to gym, attend training sessions, eat a good diet, and care about your weight and muscle gain.

Social Comparison

Social comparison is where we compare our in-group with other groups to affirm our identity.

Tajfel states that we maintain self-esteem when our groups can be compared positively with

other groups. This helps in our understanding of prejudice as once two groups have identified as being different, it is important for them to maintain this difference, so that the members of each group can maintain their self-esteem. Groups can compete for resources, as much as they are competing to maintain identity.