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B Attribution

Attribution in social psychology refers to the process of inferring causes of events or behaviors, which influences interpersonal interactions. Attributions can be classified as internal or external, and stable or unstable, with biases such as the fundamental attribution error and self-serving bias affecting how people make these inferences. Understanding attribution theory helps explain how individuals perceive and interpret behaviors in themselves and others.

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10 views

B Attribution

Attribution in social psychology refers to the process of inferring causes of events or behaviors, which influences interpersonal interactions. Attributions can be classified as internal or external, and stable or unstable, with biases such as the fundamental attribution error and self-serving bias affecting how people make these inferences. Understanding attribution theory helps explain how individuals perceive and interpret behaviors in themselves and others.

Uploaded by

sairaasairaa33
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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BS (Hons) RIT/MLT/OTT Social Psychology

Chapter # 2 Social Psychology

Topic 2 - Attribution:-

In social psychology, attribution is the process of inferring the causes of


events or behaviors. In real life, attribution is something we all do every day,
usually without any awareness of the underlying processes and biases that lead to
our inferences.

Attributions are inferences that people make about the causes of events
and behavior. People make attributions in order to understand their experiences.
Attributions strongly influence the way people interact with others.

Types of Attribution:

Researchers classify attributions along two dimensions:

 Internal vs. external


 Stable vs. unstable.
 Internal vs. External

Attribution theory proposes that the attributions people make about events
and behavior can be classed as either internal or external. 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.

 Stable vs. Unstable

Researchers also distinguish between stable and unstable attributions.


When people make a Stable Attribution, they infer that an event or behavior is due
to stable, unchanging factors. When making an Unstable Attribution, they infer
that an event or behavior is due to unstable, temporary factors.

Attribution Theory:

Dr. Hafiza Sadia Khan (Psychologist and Psychotherapist, Speech and Language Therapist, Special
Educationist)
BS (Hons) RIT/MLT/OTT Social Psychology

A formal definition is provided by Fiske and Taylor (1991, p. 23):

“Attribution theory deals with how the social perceiver uses information to arrive
at causal explanations for events. It examines what information is gathered and
how it is combined to form a causal judgment”..

Dispositional Vs Situational Attribution

1. Dispositional Attribution

Dispositional attribution assigns the cause of behavior to some internal


characteristic of a person rather than to outside forces. When we explain the
behavior of others, we look for enduring internal attributions, such as personality
traits. This is known as the fundamental attribution error.

For Example:

For example, we attribute the behavior of a person to their personality, motives, or


beliefs

2. Situational Attribution

The process of assigning the cause of behavior to some situation or event outside a
person’s control rather than to some internal characteristic. When we try to
explain our behavior, we tend to make external attributions, such as situational or
environmental features.

Attribution Bias:-

When people make an attribution, they are guessing about the causes of events
or behaviors. These guesses are often wrong. People have systematic biases,
which lead them to make incorrect attributions. These biases include the
fundamental attribution error, the self-serving bias, and the just world hypothesis.

The Fundamental Attribution Error

Dr. Hafiza Sadia Khan (Psychologist and Psychotherapist, Speech and Language Therapist, Special
Educationist)
BS (Hons) RIT/MLT/OTT Social Psychology

The Fundamental Attribution Error is the tendency to attribute other people’s


behavior to internal factors such as personality traits, abilities, and feelings. The
fundamental attribution error is also called the correspondence bias, because it is
assumed that other people’s behavior corresponds to their personal attributes.
When explaining their own behavior, on the other hand, people tend to attribute it
to situational factors.

The Self-Serving Bias

The Self-Serving Bias is the tendency to attribute successes to internal factors


and failures to situational factors. This bias tends to increase as time passes after
an event. Therefore, the further in the past an event is, the more likely people are
to congratulate themselves for successes and to blame the situation for failures.

Dr. Hafiza Sadia Khan (Psychologist and Psychotherapist, Speech and Language Therapist, Special
Educationist)

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