The Leading Body For Attribution Theory

In the ways of the world it is easier to make assessments about people or objects based on a quick observation. For instance, almost everyone has heard the clique saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” This is a perfect scenario where looking at just what is holding the book together a decision is made on whether the book will be picked to read. In the same ways individuals tend to judge each other. Unfortunately, when quick judgments are snapped about a person or object the observer is missing out a bigger picture. This is defined as the fundamental attribution error. For example, a person kicking a vending machine over and over may not have an anger management problem. Although, the observer may make this assumption as they walk by not

The Fundamental Attribution Error occurs when a person’s personality is determined based on how they act in a certain situation, but not including the situation and outside influences when making that determination. The individual could be acting a certain way based on the particular situation or social circumstances, but in all actuality be completely different in another situation. Studies show that in most cases socially we want to fit in with a group, don’t want to be different, don’t want to be wrong, and in many instances act different than what our typical personality and values are based on influencing social factors. One of the main factors that often contributes to how we act in certain situations is to obey those in authority positions. The studies provided below are examples of the show how behaviors can change based on social factors.

Attribution theory: an attempt when individuals observe behavior to determine whether it is internally or externally caused

Fritz Heider (1958) focuses on the internal and external attribution, which suggests why people behave a certain way according to their character or attitudes (external attribution) or the implication as to why an individual behaves a certain way due to the situation there in. “When we explain our own behavior, we are sensitive to how behavior changes with the situation” (Idson & Mischel, 2001). The significances of making a conclusion, gives direction and probability, which may help determine why a person may or may not act a certain way based on what the evidence shows. The implication of a certain behavior depends on the source to which it is attributed. For example: If Pat assumes that growing up isolated from her surroundings is normal, she won’t perceive it as non-normal. “The way we explain others’ actions, attributing them to the person or the situation, can have important real-life effects” (Fincham & Bradbury, 1993; Fletcher et., 1990). “A person must decide whether to attribute another’s friendliness to romantic interest “ (Myers, D. G.

The attribution process deals with how we judge the causes of people’s behavior. Internal attribution is the idea that the person caused the behavior. External attribution is the idea that a situation caused the behavior. The other manager’s attribution of Chen’s refusal to perform the Softdisk audit is viewed as an internal

The psychological phenomenon that the study centered around is the FAE, or the fundamental attribution error (also known as the attribution effect or the correspondence bias.) This phenomenon explains the inclination of people to place an emphasis on the internal qualities of a subject rather than external traits. This, however, does not explain or predict the participant’s own behavior or interpretation thereof. Unknowingly, each one of us experiences the FAE on a daily basis. While in traffic, we blame someone cutting us off on their “awful” personality rather than considering the situation or exactly why they were in such a rush. However, if we cut someone off in traffic, we blame it on the situation rather than our own internal habits and traits.

In social psychology, the phrase person perception has historically referred to the perception of others that leads to judgments of traits and dispositions. Fritz Heider proposed that people can attribute the behaviors of others to factors that are internal (personality, dispositions, etc.) or external (situational constraints), but that people are prone to make internal attributions (Ickes, 2000). These basic observations affected decades of research and provided an important foundation for two related theories, in particular. Harold Kelley’s covariation model, for example, described how people discern the attitudes of others based on simple factors surrounding observed behaviors (Sadalla et al, 1994). Similarly, Edward E. Jones

As humans we feel the need to explain everything to ourselves and to others, we attribute cause to the events around us which gives us a sense of control. This 'need to explain' is helped through attribution theory argued by Robbins, Millet and Boyle which try to explain the ways in which we judge people differently, depending on the meaning we attribute to a given behavior . There are three different type of observations that we make when we attribute behavior to either external or internal sources being consensus, consistency and distinctiveness. Considering a case of job selection process, Sam arrives at an interview and sits down without greeting his employees. Now given due to research that humans pass judgment on to others in a

Criminal behavior and criminality has been a test of the understanding of human behavior (Stone, 2007). The grounds by which criminal behavior manifests has astounded a heap of researchers and drove many to break the constructs guarding offensive and violent behavior. The jurisdiction dictates criminality as a demonstration against the administration as to society dictates that this is a deviancy from the norms set forth by the populace. A criminal act transpires when there is a motive, a mean, and an opportunity. This process is supported by distinguished theories and studies which deemed that an individual is guided by rational choice and external factors to be able to ensue to a criminal act or criminal behavior. Criminal behaviors that lead offenders to recidivate are described as

Combining the concepts of the Fundamental Attribution Error and the Actor-Observer Bias, when we predict others' behavior, we are likely to overestimate the role of dispositional causes. When we predict our own behaviors, we are likely to see our behaviors are caused by situational factors.

Taylor, & Tyler (1986) noted a different scenario studying the self-serving bias. In a study that surveyed hockey players from different teams, they noted that the self-serving bias pointed in a negative direction to where the hockey players, instead of blaming others for the team’s failures, and taking credit for their success, they blamed themselves for the failure of the group, but took a limited amount of credit for successes that the team had. The players from the survey conveyed that they would take the blame for failure rather than blame anyone else on the team. Taylor et al.’s (1986) called this effect the “in-game” effect. These same players when surveyed as a sub-group of the team also noted that they would blame their own sub group over any other

This internal attribution hypothesis is a terrible response for me because it means I make a terrible friend. This thought make me more awful than broken wrist and flat tire, and I would really consider whether I need to make this friend or not.

Kelley’s Model of Attributions proposes that behavior can be attributed either to internal factors within a person or external factors within the environment (kinicki, 2009, pg.69). Consensus involves a caparison of an individual’s behavior with that of his or her peers.

Evaluate the contribution of ‘attribution theories’ and related research in helping us to understand the way in which people perceive and explain their social environment.

Researchers have found evidence that supports the Personal Hypothesis. Despite the growing support; there are a number of criticisms that question this hypthesis. For instance, some acts that are clearly personal and