Attribution is a term used in psychology which deals with how individuals perceive the causes of everyday experience, as being either external or internal. Models to explain this process are called attribution theory. Psychological research into attribution began with the work of Fritz Heider in the early 20th century, and the theory was further advanced by Harold Kelley and Bernard Weiner.[2] Heider first introduced the concept of perceived 'locus of causality' to define the perception of one's environment.[3] For instance, an experience may be perceived as being caused by factors outside the person's control (external) or it may be perceived as the person's own doing (internal). These initial perceptions are called attributions.[3] Psychologists use these attributions to better understand an individual's motivation and competence.[4] The theory is of particular interest to employers who use it to increase worker motivation, goal orientation, and productivity. Show
Psychologists have identified various biases in the way people attribute causation, especially when dealing with others. The fundamental attribution error describes the tendency to attribute dispositional or personality-based explanations for behavior, rather than considering external factors. We tend to assume others are responsible for their own misfortunes, in other words, while blaming external factors for our own. Culture bias is when someone makes an assumption about the behavior of a person based on their own cultural practices and beliefs. Attribution theory has been criticised as being mechanistic and reductionist for assuming that people are rational, logical, and systematic thinkers.[5] The fundamental attribution error, however, demonstrates that they are cognitive misers and motivated tacticians. It also fails to address the social, cultural, and historical factors that shape attributions of cause. This has been addressed extensively by discourse analysis, a branch of psychology that prefers to use qualitative methods including the use of language to understand psychological phenomena. The linguistic categorization theory for example demonstrates how language influences our attribution style.[71] In psychology, attribution is a judgment we make about the cause of another person's behavior. Attribution theory explains these attribution processes, which we use to understand why an event or behavior occurred. To understand the concept of attribution, imagine that a new friend cancels plans to meet up for coffee. Do you assume that something unavoidable came up, or that the friend is a flaky person? In other words, do you assume that the behavior was situational (related to external circumstances) or dispositional (related to inherent internal characteristics)? How you answer questions like these is the central focus for psychologists who study attribution. Key Takeaways: Attribution Theory
Common Sense PsychologyFritz Heider put forward his theories of attribution in his 1958 book The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations. Heider was interested in examining how individuals determine whether another person's behavior is internally caused or externally caused. According to Heider, behavior is a product of capacity and motivation. Capacity refers to whether we are able to enact a particular behavior—that is, whether our innate characteristics and our present environment make that behavior possible. Motivation refers to our intentions as well as how much effort we apply. Heider contended that both capacity and motivation are necessary for a particular behavior to occur. For example, your ability to run a marathon depends on both your physical fitness and the weather that day (your capacity) as well as your desire and drive to push through the race (your motivation). Correspondent Inference TheoryEdward Jones and Keith Davis developed the correspondent inference theory. This theory suggests that if someone behaves in a socially desirable way, we do not tend to infer much about them as a person. For example, if you ask your friend for a pencil and she gives one to you, you are not likely to infer much about your friend's character from the behavior, because most people would do the same thing in a given situation—it is the socially desirable response. However, if your friend refuses to allow you to borrow a pencil, you are likely to infer something about her innate characteristics due to this socially undesirable response. Also according to this theory, we do not tend to conclude much about an individual's internal motivation if they’re acting in a particular social role. For example, a salesperson might be friendly and outgoing at work, but because such a demeanor is part of the job requirements, we will not attribute the behavior to an innate characteristic. On the other hand, if an individual displays behavior that is atypical in a given social situation, we tend to be more likely to attribute their behavior to their innate disposition. For example, if we see someone behaving in a quiet, reserved manner at a loud and boisterous party, we’re more likely to conclude that this person is introverted. Kelley’s Covariation ModelAccording to psychologist Harold Kelley’s covariation model, we tend to use three types of information when we’re deciding whether someone’s behavior was internally or externally motivated.
When there are high levels of consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency, we tend to attribute the behavior to the situation. For example, let's imagine that you've never eaten cheese pizza before, and are trying to figure out why your friend Sally likes cheese pizza so much:
Taken together, this information suggests that Sally's behavior (liking pizza) is the result of a specific circumstance or situation (pizza tastes good and is a nearly universally enjoyed dish), rather than some inherent characteristic of Sally's. When there are low levels of consensus and distinctiveness, but high consistency, we’re more likely to decide the behavior is due to something about the person. For example, let's imagine that you’re trying to figure out why your friend Carly likes to go sky-diving:
Taken together, this information suggests that Carly's behavior (her love of sky-diving) is the result of an inherent characteristic of Carly's (being a thrill-seeker), rather than a situational aspect of the act of sky-diving. Weiner’s Three-Dimensional ModelBernard Weiner’s model suggests that people examine three dimensions when attempting to understand the causes of a behavior: locus, stability, and controllability.
According to Weiner, the attributions people make affect their emotions. For example, people are more likely to feel pride if they believe that they succeeded due to internal characteristics, such as innate talent, rather than external factors, such as luck. Research on a similar theory, explanatory style, has found that an individual's explanatory style people is linked to their health and levels of stress. Attribution ErrorsWhen we try to determine the cause of someone’s behavior, we are not always accurate. In fact, psychologists have identified two key errors that we commonly make when attempting to attribute behavior.
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Cite this Article Format mla apa chicagoYour Citation Hopper, Elizabeth. "Attribution Theory: The Psychology of Interpreting Behavior." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/attribution-theory-4174631 (accessed December 31, 2022). What are situational external causes of behavior?Situational Factors (also known as External Factors) are influences that do not occur from within the individual but from elsewhere like the environment and others around you. Examples of situational factors are your environment, work and school, and the people around you.
What is attribution theory external?External attributions are explanations that stress environmental or situational factors, such as task difficulty, social influences, and the physical characteristics of a particular environment (Ross 1977).
How does attribution theory explain behavior?Attribution theory assumes that people try to determine why people do what they do, i.e., attribute causes to behavior. A person seeking to understand why another person did something may attribute one or more causes to that behavior.
What are the internal and external causes of attribution?In an internal, or dispositional, attribution, people infer that an event or a person's behavior is due to personal factors such as traits, abilities, or feelings. In an external, or situational, attribution, people infer that a person's behavior is due to situational factors.
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