Attribution

causal attribution

the process of explaining the causes of behavior- our own and others

what are the three dimensions of causal attribution?

internal vs external: cause from self or outside?

stable vs unstable: will it change overtime

global vs specified: affects all areas or just one

what is pessimistic attribution style?

explain hardships as internal, stable, and global

how do we attribute behavior?

we assess whether behavior is caused by internal (dispositional) factors such as traits and preferences, or external (situational) factors, such as context or the environment

what information do we use to assess what behavior is caused by?

covariation information:

consensus: do others behave similarly?

distinctiveness: does the person behave differently in other situations

consistency: is the behavior repeated over time

what causes situational vs dispositional attribution

situational: high consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency

dispositional: low consensus and distinctiveness, and high consistency

discounting principle

confidence in one cause decreases when other plausible causes exist (acting friendly in a job interview)

augmentation principle

confidence increases when behavior occurs despite opposing forces

counterfactual thinking

imagining alternative outcomes

emotional amplification

stronger emotions when outcomes almost didn’t happen

self serving attributional bias

tendency to attribute success to internal factors and failure to external factors

fundamental attribution error (exam)

tendency to overestimate personal traits and underestimate situational factors when explaining others’ behaviour

what studies have shown the fundamental attribution error

Milgram’s obedience study: Participants delivered high voltage shocks under authority pressure. Showed behavior reflects the situation, not cruelty or weakness

Quiz game study: Questioners had to create questions contestants must answer. Contestants and observers tended to rate the questioner as more intelligent than the contestant

Office simulation: People were randomly assigned managers and clerks. Managers rated fellow managers better than clerks, and clerks rated managers better than fellow clerks.

causes of the fundamental attribution error

1. Motivational influence: just world hypothesis. we want to believe the world is fair. dispositional attributions feel safer and protect self esteem

2. Perceptual Salience: people stand out more than the situations

3. Cognitive Processing: we automatically assume behavior reflects personality. we need to adjust for context, and under cognitive load, adjustment fails

what study studied cognitive processing?

participants had to watch an anxious looking woman. those who had to memorize words rated her an anxious, despite the context

actor observer difference in attribution

actors explain their own behavior by situation. observers explain others’ behavior by personality traits

cultural difference in context sensitivity?

non westerners attend more to social context and relationships, while westerners focus on personal goals and traits. fundamental attribution error is stronger among independent cultures than among interdependent ones

what studies studied cultural differences in fundamental attribution error?

cultural differences in attribution across age: while at age 8, indian and american students had no difference in explaining the reasoning behind an action, when they grow up, indian students focused more on context while americans focused on personal factors

cultural differences in news reporting: east asia (china) media highlights contextual and relational causes

US-Korea- east easians tend to consider broader context, including distant or background factors