Attribution Flashcards
Attribution
How people explain what they & others do, think & feel
Causes people assign to explain behaviour, thoughts & emotions of themselves & others
Heider
People naturally attribute causes to the behaviour of themselves & others
People are ‘naive scientists’ that attempt to explain behaviour in as simple of ways as possible
People can make internal or external attributions
Correspondent interference theory
Choice, expectation & intended consequences used to evaluate if interval or external attributions are made
If they have choice, intended to achieve something or if the behaviour is non-normative, internal attribution is more likely
Kelly’s covariation model of attribution
If an action can be attributed to either the stimulus of the action or the time frame then internal attributions less likely
An act can be attributed to the situation when;
1) most people act towards the other person the same way
2) person doing the action does not usually act that way
Fundamental attribution error
Tendency to underestimate the role of the situation when describing another persons behaviour or attitudes
But to not do this when describing ones own behaviour
Jones (1976); fundamental attribution error
Pp told that a person either had to write speech in favour of Fidel Castro or that they chose to
Even when pp had no choice, people presumed that the speakers had the corresponding views on Castro
We think other people are more likely to conform than us & their actions are more likely to be caused by who they are than by situations
even when people attribute another’s behaviour to social factors, they still think this itself is an internal attribution
Actor-observer bias
FAE
Malle (2006); actor observer bias much more likely when describing -ve events
E.g. the person did poorly in exams due to themselves, not the instructor
Self-serving bias
Attributions bias that leads people to enhance themselves & protect their own self esteem
Better than average effect
People tend to attribute own success to themselves & their failures to others
In a team setting, people tend to attribute success more to themselves than others & more to there attribute to them
In relationships, each partner tends to report doing more housework than the other reports they do
Motivated reasoning
People tend to make attributions based on their goals, motivations & needs
Kunda (1990); people high in caffeine consumption less likely to believe research showing that caffeine is bad for you then those who don’t consume a lot (self-serving attribution)
Bias blind spot
People tend to perceive that they are less susceptible to bias than other people
Due to introspection illusion
When evaluating ourselves, we rely more on introspection
When evaluating others, we rely more on their behaviours
Behaviour is more clear cut in terms of biases than introspection
Also believe we are less susceptible to external influence & that we have more free will than others
Naive realism
Bias blind spot similar to idea of naive realism
Tend to think that how we perceive others & the world is how the world actually is- don’t see our own motivations & biases often & when we do we perceive these motivations as correct anyway
Hence if people disagree with us there is a tendency to see them as controlled by external forces & misinformed, unintelligent or lazy
When people read essays counter to own beliefs, activates the anterior Cingulate cortex (error recognition area)
Naive realism & conflict
Pronin et al (2006)
When pp primed to think of terrorists as rational & having reasonable motivations they were supportive of negotiating
Bias perception conflict spiral; people who disagree seen as biased, these biased perceptions can lead to conflict, thus conflict leads to further perceptions of bias
Outgroup homogeneity effect & attribution
OHE; tend to perceive outgroup members as more similar to each other than we perceive ingroup members to be, we we all unique & different, they are similar
Hence, when outgroup member commits moral violation, tendency to overestimate how many people in that group would do the same
Other attribution biases
Hindsight bias; tendency to think we knew it all along when we didn’t
Negativity bias; tendency for negative info to outweigh positive info when making judgements
Confirmation bias; tendency to seek out info that is consistent with the beliefs we already have
Attributing mind to non-humans; Epley’s trifactor theory of Anthropomorphism
1) loneliness increases the belief that non-humans can think & feel
2) efficacy motivation increases this belief as well as motivation that the self cannot completely navigate life
3) salience of anthropomorphic ideas also increases this belief
