4.3 - Causal Attributions

causal attributions - suspected or inferred causes of behavior

internal factors - factors within a person

external factors - factors within the environment

consensus - compares an individual's behavior with that of his or her peers

distinctiveness - compares a person's behavior on one task with his or her behavior on other tasks

consistency - judges whether the individual’s performance on a given task is consistent over time

fundamental attribution bias - tendency to attribute another person's behavior to his or her personal characteristics, rather than to situation factors

self-serving bias - tendency to take more personal responsibility for success than for failure