Chapter 13 - Attribution Processes: Explaining Behaviour Flashcards
(20 cards)
define attributions
Attributions are inferences that people draw about the causes of events, others’ behaviour, and their own behaviour
why do we make attributions?
people make them to understand experiences and make sense of the actions of others and their own
e.g., assuming your friend can’t hangout because she’s burnt out from school or work (when you asked her to hangout she gave you a vague and unclear reason why she can’t, but you’re essentially giving her the benefit of the doubt that its because she’s tired, not because she doesn’t want to hangout).
types of situations we make attributions for:
-explaining others’ behaviour
-explaining/making sense of events
-explaining one’s own behaviour
Fritz Heider (1958)
-first person to describe how people make attributions
-asserted that people tend to locate the cause of behaviour either within a person, attributing it to personal factors, or outside a person, attributing it to environmental factors
define internal attributions
Internal attributions ascribe the causes of behaviour to personal dispositions, traits, abilities, and feelings.
e.g., if a friend’s business fails, you might attribute it to their lack of business acumen (an internal, personal factor.
define external attributions
External attributions ascribe the causes of behaviour to situational demands and environmental constraints.
e.g., if a friend’s business fails, you might attribute it to negative trends in the nation’s economic climate (an external, situational explanation).
give an example of how internal and external attributions affect interpersonal interactions
e.g., if parents attribute their son’s automobile accident to slippery road conditions, they’re likely to deal with the event very differently than if they attribute it to his carelessness.
e.g., blaming a friend’s business failure on poor business acumen as opposed to a poor economy will have a great impact on how you view your friend.
what additional dimension did Bernard Weiner propose in attribution theory?
-stability (stable vs unstable)
-combines with inter vs external
-creates 4 attribution types:
1 - internal-stable
2 - internal-unstable
3 - external-stable
4 - external-unstable
Weiner’s model applied to a concrete event: explaining job success or failure
failure:
-internal-stable: lack of ability
-internal-unstable: inadequate effort to put together an eye-catching résumé
-external-stable: too much outstanding competition
-external-unstable: bad luck
success:
-internal-stable: your excellent ability
-internal-unstable: your hard work to assemble a superb résumé
-external-stable: lack of top-flight competition
-external-unstable: good luck
how does Weiner’s model apply to explanations of poverty?
-internal-stable: laziness, lack of thrift
-internal-unstable: financially draining illness
-external-stable: discrimination, inadequate government programs for training
-external-unstable: bad luck, economic recession
define fundamental attribution error
fundamental attribution error refers to observers’ bias in favour of internal attributions in explaining others’ behaviour.
**observers have a curious tendency to overestimate the likelihood that an actor’s behaviour reflects personal qualities rather than situational factors.
reasons why humans tend to make the fundamental attribution error:
-situational pressures may not be readily apparent to an observer
-attributing others’ behaviour to their dispositions is a relatively effortless, almost automatic process, whereas explaining people’s behaviour in terms of situational factors requires more thought and effort
-many people feel that few situations are so coercive that they negate all freedom of choice
what is the actor-observer bias?
actors favour external attributions for their behaviour, whereas observers are more likely to explain the same behaviour with internal attributions.
e.g., you lash out a someone and blame it on stress; observers blame it on your personality.
what is self-serving bias?
The self-serving bias is the tendency to attribute one’s successes to personal factors and one’s failures to situational factors.
-this bias is intended to bolster self-esteem and subjective well-being.
-this bias grows stronger as time passes after an event, so that people tend to take progressively more credit for their successes and less blame for their failures.
success= internal attributions (e.g., I’m skilled)
*actors prefer internal attributions so they can take credit for their triumphs
failure=external attributions (e.g., bad luck, unfairness)
*actors prefer external attributions so they can protect their self-esteem
define defensive attribution
The defensive attribution is the tendency to blame victims for their misfortunes, so that one feels less likely to be victimized in a similar way.
*an observer’s tendency to make internal attributions becomes even stronger than normal.
e.g., it makes people feel safer to blame the homeless for their misfortune, as opposed to blaming something like the economy (that could affect you too).
define individualism
individualism involves putting personal goals ahead of group goals and defining one’s identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group memberships.
define collectivism
collectivism involves putting group goals ahead of personal goals and defining one’s identity in terms of the groups one belongs to (such as one’s family, tribe, work group, social class, and caste).
individualistic cultures
-North American and Western European cultures tend to be individualistic.
-research examining 51 years of data across 78 countries suggests that socioeconomic development has led to modest increases in individualism in recent decades around the world.
collectivist cultures
-Asian, African, and Latin American cultures tend to be collectivistic.
-place a higher priority on shared values and resources, cooperation, mutual interdependence, and concern for how one’s actions will affect other group members.
attributions in individualistic cultures vs. collectivist cultures
individualistic:
-self-serving bias may be particularly prevalent in individualistic Western societies, where an emphasis on competition and high self-esteem motivates people to try to impress others, as well as themselves.
collectivist:
-people from collectivist societies are not immune to the fundamental attribution error, but they appear to be less susceptible to it.