Attribution

Question 1

Define causal attribution

Answer 1

The processing of signing a cause to an event or behaviour

Question 2

What are the three dimensions of causal attributions?

Answer 2

Locus of causality, stability, and controllability

Question 3

What is locus of causality?

Answer 3

Behaviours/events can be attributed to internal causes (dispositional attributes) or external (situational attributions)

Question 4

What is stability?

Answer 4

Behaviours/events can be attributed to stable causes or unstable causes

Question 5

What is controllability?

Answer 5

Behaviours/events can be attributed to controllable or uncontrollable causes

Question 6

Why do we engage in causal attribution?

Answer 6

Attribution theory

Question 7

What is attribution theory?

Answer 7

Human beings are naive scientists (Heider) motivated by a need to 1) Form a coherent view of the world 2) Be in control of their environment . Basically coming up with simple rational explanations for behaviours and events to make sense of the world

Question 8

What are the two theories that explain how we engage in attribution?

Answer 8

Correspondent inference theory (Jones and Davis)
Covariation model (Kelley - the most influential)

Question 9

What is the correspondent inference theory?

Answer 9

Outlines a number of factors influencing whether people make dispositional attributions
1) Choice - did the person freely choose to perform the behaviour
2) Non-common (unique) effects - are the effects of the behaviour relatively unique to that behaviour vs common to many behaviours
3) Social desirability - is the behaviour consistent with social norms
4) Hedonistic relevance - does the behaviour have consequences for you
5) Personalism - was the behaviour intended for you

Question 10

Why are they called correspondent inferences ?

Answer 10

Because they correspond to disposition

Question 11

What is an issue with the correspondent inference theory?

Answer 11

It focuses on single instances of behaviour
It focuses on only the processes underlying dispositional attributions

Question 12

What is the covariation model?

Answer 12

Accounts for both external and internal attributions. Argues that attribution are based on what factors co-occur with the behaviour/event. The model argues that we act like naive scientists and draw on 3 pieces of information about the covariation between the behaviour/event and the person, stimulus and time.

Question 13

What are the three factors of the covariation model?

Answer 13

Consensus, consistency, distinctiveness

Question 14

What does consensus mean?

Answer 14

Does everyone behave this way to the stimulus?

Question 15

What attribution is a low consensus associated with?

Answer 15

Dispositional

Question 16

What attribution is a high consensus associated with?

Answer 16

Situtional

Question 17

What does consistency mean?

Answer 17

Does this person behave the same to this stimulus on other occasions?

Question 18

What attribution is a low consistency associated with?

Answer 18

Situational

Question 19

What attribution is a high consistency associated with?

Answer 19

Dispositional

Question 20

What does distinctiveness mean?

Answer 20

Does this person behave the same way to different stimuli

Question 21

What attribution is a low distinctiveness associated with?

Answer 21

Dispositional

Question 22

What attribution is a high distinctiveness associated with?

Answer 22

Situational

Question 23

What are some issues with the covariance model?

Answer 23

We don’t always have information on all the dimensions
Effortful

Question 24

What is the fundamental attribution error? (Attributional bias)

Answer 24

The tendency to over attribute to the person rather than the situation (ie dispositional over situational)

Question 25

What are criticisms of the FAE

Answer 25

Cultural differences
(Evidenced by Morris and Peng where American students made significantly higher dispositional attributions and lower situational attributions than Chinese students

Question 26

What are explanations for the fundamental attribution error?

Answer 26

1) Lack of awareness of situational constraints - ‘when one tries to point to a situation, one often stabs empty air’
2) Unrealistic expectations of behaviour; we’re really bad at identifying how much a situation will affect someone else’s behaviour
3) Incomplete corrections of dispositional inferences; we make dispositional attributions as a default, but may fail to correct for situational influences

Question 27

What is the actor observer effect?

Answer 27

The tendency to attribute other’s behaviours to dispositional factors and our own behaviour to situational factors

Question 28

Explanations for the actor-observer effect

Answer 28

1) Perceptual focus; when we observe others behaviour, they themselves (rather than the situational background) draws our attention. However, when we observe our own behaviour, we can’t see ourselves acting, just the situational background.
2) Informational differences; we have far more information about how we behave in different situations than we have information about how others behave in different circumstances

Question 29

Is the actor observer effect universally observed?

Answer 29

Malle’s meta analaysis showed that the actor observer effect held for negative behaviours but was reversed for positive behaviours

Question 30

What is the self-serving attribution bias?

Answer 30

Humans interpret the world in a way that serves their purpose - motivated tacticians. Attributing positive events to themselves and negative events to other causes

Question 31

Explanations for the self-serving bias?

Answer 31

They’re adaptive, they help to maintain and enhance self-esteem, and good mental health,

Question 32

How universal is self serving attribution bias?

Answer 32

Mezulis et al, meta analysis, 266 studies, found a large self-serving attribution bias

Question 33

Where is the self-serving bias attenuated in?

Answer 33

1) adolescents and adults (vs. children and older adults)
2) some non-Western cultures (Japanese, Pacific Islanders)
3) samples with mental health disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety disorders)

Question 34

What is the most well-known method for measuring trait attributional style?

Answer 34

Peterson et al’s 19982 Attributional Style Questionnaire, which categorises style into 3 components

Question 35

What are the 3 components in the ASQ?

Answer 35

Internal/external, stable/unstable, global/specific

Question 36

What are attributional styles?

Answer 36

Particular trait tendencies to explain events and behaviours in a particular way, arose from research examining differences in attribution in samples with depression.