Attribution Theories and Concepts

ATTRIBUTION IN PSYCHOLOGY

What is Attribution?

• Definition: Attribution refers to causal explanations that help us understand the causes behind our behaviors or those of others, as well as events in general.

• Initiation: The development of the attribution approach in social psychology was introduced by Fritz Heider in 1958.

Heider and His “Naive” Psychology

• Causal Theories: People construct causal theories to explain human behavior.

• Naive Psychologist: This term refers to the principles by which individuals attempt to make sense of others' actions.

• Pervasive Need for Explanations: There exists a significant need for causal explanations among individuals.

• Purpose of Attributions:

  • To predict social outcomes.

  • To exert control over the social environment.

• Individuals seek to uncover enduring abilities in people or stable properties in situations.

Types of Causes in Attribution

• Internal Causes (Dispositional Attribution):

  • Explanation of behavior based on the individual's temperament, personality, emotional, or mental states.

• External Causes (Situational Attribution):

  • Explanation of behavior as a reaction to pressures exerted by the surrounding situation.

• Categorization of Disposition and Situation:

  • Dispositional (Internal): Involves intentional efforts or skill.

  • Situational (External): Involves unintentional factors, such as emotions.

Theories of Attribution

Correspondent Inference Theory

• Authors: Developed by Edward Jones and Keith Davis in 1965.

• Key Questions:

  • How do we decide if an action is due to a specific trait or disposition?

  • Under what conditions can a behavior be attributed to dispositions (especially intent)?

• Examples of Situations:

  • Friendliness required for a job.

Factors for Inferring Disposition/Intention

• Behaviors are examined based on several criteria:

  • Voluntary and Free Choice: Actions that are chosen freely.

  • Social Norm Violations: Behaviors that break social norms and are considered undesirable.

  • Consequences of Behavior: Actions producing noncommon effects signal more about disposition.

  • Impact on the Actor: Hedonicobserver. relevance and personalism indicate behaviors of importance to the actor and their possible interest in the observer.

Key Study: Jones & Harris (1967)

• Study on attitudes towards Castro:

  • Condition 1: Pro-Castro writings (unexpected).

  • Condition 2: Anti-Castro writings (expected).

  • Free Choice vs. External Pressure: Students were asked to rate the pro-Castro attitudes of writers, regardless of the pressure in which the essays were produced.

Cognitive Models of Attribution

Two-Stage Model

• Developed by Daniel Gilbert in 1988:

  • Stage 1: Automatic judgment leads to dispositional attribution.

  • Stage 2: Cognitive effort is employed to consider situational factors which may influence behavior.

Covariation Model (ANOVA Model)

• Developed by Harold H. Kelley in 1967:

• Attribution Determinants: Comprises both dispositional and situational factors.

• Information Types:

  • Distinctiveness: How individual performance is in comparison to others (e.g., Did John fail in social psychology only?).

  • Consistency: Whether the behavior is consistent over time.

  • Consensus: How others behave in similar situations.

  • Examples:

    • Yes/No distinctions for Low/High in distinctiveness, consistency, and consensus scenarios.

Critiques of the Covariation Model

• Cognitive Effort Requirements: Requires deliberate thinking.

• Information Availability: Not all three types of information may be accessible at times.

• Affect of Busy Lives: Individuals may be too busy to give sufficient attention to causal factors.

• Application to Events: In situations involving unexpected events, people may refer to these three types of information; however, everyday common events may not trigger this analytical process.

Causal Schemata Model (Kelley, 1972)

• Attribution Approach: Deals with attribution for single events in the absence of detailed information.

• Causal Schema: Represents an abstract generalization of past experiences of causes.

• **Schema Types: **

  • Multiple Sufficient Causes Schema: More than one cause leads to behavior.

  • Multiple Necessary Causes Schema: Every cause listed is necessary for behavioral explanation.

Discounting and Augmenting Principles

Discounting Principle

• Definition: Tendency to minimize the importance of behavioral causes when alternative potential causes are present.

• Application: People often diminish the role of dispositional factors in the presence of a compelling situational cause.

Augmenting Principle

• Definition: Tendency to give greater importance to an unexpected cause than casual observers would expect.

• Example: An individual receiving a high grade in a university exam at a young age prompts considerations of genius versus normal achievement.

Explaining Our Behavior

Self-Perception Theory (Bem, 1967)

• Understanding Behavior: In circumstances where no prior experiences or internal causes are prominent, individuals may infer characteristics about themselves based on their behavior.

• Equivalence in Attributions: There are no essential differences between attributions to self and others.

Attribution of Emotion

Two-Factor Theory of Emotion (Schachter, 1964)

• Components of Emotion: Emotions consist of two critical components:

  • Physiological Arousal: The physical sensation tied to emotions.

  • Cognitive Appraisal: The process through which feelings receive labels or interpretations.

  • Overview: Emotions are responses to diffuse adaptions, needing cognitive labels to specify the emotion experienced.

Misattribution of Arousal

• Study by Dutton & Aron (1974):

  • Investigated how different environmental contexts can induce varied arousal responses (e.g., suspension vs. sturdy bridges).

  • Question Raised: Who contacted the woman post-experiment due to feelings evoked by arousal?

Schachter-Singer Experiment

• Methodology: Participants received an epinephrine injection while experiencing varying behaviors from "stooges" during their wait.

• Variable Responses: The participants' reactions varied significantly depending on the behaviors exhibited by the stooges.

Hypothesis of Emotion Attribution

• Conceptualization: Individuals in a state of arousal lacking immediate explanation will attribute their feelings based on available cognitions.

• Resultant Behavior: In cases where an arousal state is appropriately explained, individuals will likely avoid using alternative cognitions to label their feelings.

Attribution of Achievement

Bernard Weiner’s Attribution Model (1979)

• Locus of Causality: Factors in the attribution of achievement include:

  • Dimensions of Cause:

  • Locality (Internal vs. External): Where the cause arises (within the person vs from outside).

  • Stability: Whether a cause tends to remain constant or changes.

  • Controllability: The degree to which the individual can control the cause.

  • Types of Causes to Achievement:

  • Ability, Effort, Task Difficulty, Luck.

Control and Stability Matrix

• Internal Factors:

  • Controllable: Effort.

  • Uncontrollable: Ability.

• External Factors:

  • Controllable: Task Difficulty.

  • Uncontrollable: Luck.

Attributional Style

Attributional Style Framework (Abramson et al., 1978)

• **Globality vs. Specificity:

• Pessimistic Explanatory Style:

  • Failures: Attributed to internal, stable, and global factors (e.g. "It seems that my achievement is getting worse and worse.").

  • Successes: Attributed to external, unstable, and specific causes (e.g. "I got this prize because my boss likes me. Otherwise, I would not have gotten anything.").

• Optimistic Explanatory Style:

  • Successes: Tied to internal, stable, and global factors (e.g. "I am clever.").

  • Failures: Attributed to external, unstable, and specific causes (e.g. "I failed because the teacher had a bad day.").