Chapter 4

Question 1

What is attribution theory?

Answer 1

A description of how people explain the causes of their own and others’ behavior.

Answering the “why” question

Question 2

Who is the father of attribution theory?

Answer 2

Fritz Heider.

Question 3

What is the Theory of Naïve Psychology?

Answer 3

Knowing why a person acted a certain way allows us to predict how they will act in the future

→ When we make causal attributions, we make a distinction between internal and external
causes of behavior

The idea that people practice an informal form of psychology, using cause-and-effect analysis to understand behavior.

Question 4

What is an internal (dispositional) attribution?

Answer 4

An inference that a person’s behavior is due to their attitude, character, or personality.

Question 5

What is an external (situational) attribution?

Answer 5

An inference that a person’s behavior is due to the situation they are in.

→the assumption is that most people would respond the same way in that situation

Question 6

Give an example of internal vs. external attribution.

Answer 6

A student submits an assignment late:

Internal: “They are lazy!”
External: “Maybe they had a family issue.”

Question 7

What do people naturally do when explaining others’ behavior?

Answer 7

Distinguish between internal and external causes.

Question 8

How does explaining behavior help us?

Answer 8

It helps us understand others’ motivations.

Question 9

What does Correspondent Inference Theory explain?

Answer 9

How people infer stable personality traits from others’ behavior.

Question 10

When are we more likely to attribute behavior to personality (internal attribution)?

Answer 10

When someone acts:

1. Freely (not forced)
2. Intentionally (on purpose)
3. In an unusual way for the situation
4. In a way that doesn’t bring rewards or approval

Question 11

Give an example of Correspondent Inference Theory.

Answer 11

If someone volunteers for a difficult task without a reward, we assume they are genuinely hardworking.

Question 12

What does Kelley’s Covariation Model explain?

Answer 12

How we decide between internal and external attributions by analyzing patterns in behavior.

Question 13

How do we determine if a behavior is due to internal or external factors?

Answer 13

By noting the pattern between possible causes and whether the behavior occurs.

Question 14

What three types of information do we use to form attributions?

Answer 14

1. Consensus information
2. Distinctiveness information
3. Consistency information

Question 15

What is consensus information?

Answer 15

the extent to which other people behave the same way as the actor (make attributions for the actors behavior) does toward the same stimulus

Question 16

How does consensus affect attribution?

Answer 16

Low consensus → Internal attribution

High consensus → External attribution

Question 17

Example of consensus in action using Chad and Darlene?

Answer 17

If only Chad asks Darlene to prom (low consensus), we assume it’s due to Chad (internal). If many guys ask Darlene (high consensus), we assume it’s because of Darlene (external).

Question 18

What is distinctiveness information?

Answer 18

The extent to which one person behaves the same way to different stimuli.

Question 19

How does distinctiveness affect attribution?

Answer 19

Low distinctiveness → Internal attribution

High distinctiveness → External attribution

Question 20

Example of distinctiveness in action using Chad and Darlene?

Answer 20

If Chad asks out many girls (low distinctiveness), it’s about him (internal). If he only asks Darlene (high distinctiveness), it’s about her (external).

Question 21

What is consistency information?

Answer 21

The extent to which the behavior between one person and one stimulus stays the same over time.

Question 22

How does consistency affect attribution?

Answer 22

Low consistency → External attribution

High consistency → Internal attribution

Question 23

Example of consistency in action using Chad and Darlene?

Answer 23

If Chad has liked Darlene for a long time (high consistency), it’s likely internal. If he suddenly asks her out without previous interest (low consistency), it’s external.

Question 24

What conditions lead to an internal attribution?

Answer 24

✔ High Consistency
❌ Low Consensus
❌ Low Distinctiveness

Question 25

What conditions lead to an external attribution?

Answer 25

✔ High Consistency ✔ High Consensus ✔ High Distinctiveness

Question 26

If no guys ask Darlene out (low consensus), Chad asks out many girls (low distinctiveness), and he’s inconsistent in liking her (low consistency), what does this suggest?

Answer 26

Unusual circumstance → Maybe Chad was dared or bet money.

Question 27

If lots of guys ask out Darlene (high consensus), Chad doesn’t ask out many girls (high distinctiveness), and he consistently likes Darlene (high consistency), what does this suggest?

Answer 27

External Attribution → Darlene is very attractive

Question 28

If no other guys ask out Darlene (low consensus), Chad asks out lots of girls (low distinctiveness), and he consistently flirts with different girls (high consistency), what does this suggest?

Answer 28

Internal Attribution → Chad is a player.

Question 29

What is the Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)?

Answer 29

The tendency to overestimate internal factors and underestimate situational factors when explaining others' behavior. EX. see someone in grocery store yelling = oh that person is aggressive = FAE, maybe they had a bad day or being provoked

Question 30

What is another name for the Fundamental Attribution Error?

Answer 30

The Correspondence Bias.

Question 31

How does FAE contribute to blaming the victim?

Answer 31

People assume victims are responsible for their suffering due to dispositional factors rather than situational ones.

Question 32

What psychological concept explains why FAE happens?

Answer 32

Perceptual salience—we focus on the most noticeable information (the person) rather than the situation. EX. person yelling in grocery store is main object in environment = salient

Question 33

What are the two steps of making attributions?

Answer 33

1. First step: Make an automatic internal attribution (assume behavior is due to the person). Ex. person yelling = the are aggressive 2. Second step: Adjust for situational factors (if we take the time). EX. someone swearing at them so person yelling back

Question 34

Why do people often stop at the first step?

Answer 34

Lack of time or effort.

Question 35

When are people more likely to engage in the second step?

Answer 35

When motivated to be accurate or suspicious of someone’s behavior.

Question 36

Which cultures are more likely to make situational attributions?

Answer 36

Collectivist cultures (e.g., Japan, China).

Question 37

Which cultures are more likely to make dispositional attributions?

Answer 37

Individualist cultures (e.g., USA, Canada).

Question 38

What is the Actor-Observer Difference?

Answer 38

Attributing other people’s behavior to their character and one’s own behavior to the situation * The tendency to see others’ behavior as dispositionally caused, while focusing more on the role of situational factors when explaining one’s own behavior EX. someone litters = “people are so inconsiderate”, when you litter yourself = “there is no garbage bin”

Question 39

What is a self-serving attribution?

Answer 39

When people’s self esteem is threatened they make self serving attributions The tendency to take credit for successes (internal attribution) and blame failures on external factors. Can cause a person to overestimate their contribution to a shared task EX. get good grade = I studied so hard, I did so good, etc, get bad grade = the test was too hard, the teacher didn’t go over this in class, etc

Question 40

In which cultures is the self-serving bias strongest?

Answer 40

Western cultures (e.g., USA, Canada).

Question 41

Example of cultural differences in self-serving bias?

Answer 41

Chinese students take less credit for success and blame themselves more for failure than American students do.

Question 42

What are defensive attributions?

Answer 42

Another way to deal with threats to self-esteem Explanations that help people avoid feelings of vulnerability and fear.

Question 43

Example of a defensive attribution?

Answer 43

Belief in a Just World—the idea that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. ->Allows us to be optimistic about the future BUT also creates a tendency to engage in victim blaming