Attribution Theory Flashcards
Heider argued that we infer dispositions from behavior using what kind of analysis?
The analysis of how people perceive behaviors as being caused by causes internal to the person or external in the environment
What two kinds of factors do we distinguish, and how are they related in Heider’s first equation? Why is that?
Heider’s first equation is : Behavior = Internal Causes + External Causes
- The relationship is additive, since either internal or external factors can cause the behavior
- Also due to the fact that both internal and external factors can work together or internal and external causes can be opposed
How does “social undesirability” relate to Heider’s equations?
We are more likely to attribute behavior to a person if it is a socially undesirable behavior
What is the Fundamental Attribution Error?
It is when we ignore external factors but we still attribute behavior to a person
What is the mathematical relationship between ability and trying in Heider’s second equation? Why is that?
Heider’s second equation is : Behavior = (Ability X Trying) – Task Difficulty
- The relationship between ability and trying is multiplicative, since you need at least some ability and trying to succeed
- However stronger ability may require less effort, and stronger effort may make up for weaker ability
On a moderately difficult task, what is more informative about a person’s ability, success or failure? Why is that?
Success is more informative because to be successful you need to have some ability and you need to try
How did Strickland manipulate the salience of external factors? What did he find?
By having each participant serve as a supervisor while being able to monitor one worker for 9/10 trials and another for 2/10 trials
- The participant rated the second worker as more trustworthy since they performed well while only being monitored twice
Jones et al. found that attributions of ability depended upon whether performance ascended, descended, or was random. Explain.
- Discovered that changes in performance were connected to trying, which is generally more changeable than ability
- Descending performance → due to decreasing trying (the person was bored)
- Increasing performance → due to increasing trying (the person wanted to do well)
Weiner explained reactions to success and failure in terms of what four causes? He classified these in terms of what two dimensions?
The four causes:
- Stable internal
- Unstable internal
- Stable external
- Unstable external
Classified these causes in terms of failure and success
What kinds of attributions lead to continued efforts after failure? After success?
- If you fail, you might attribute failure to one of the Unstable cases and you might not fail again, and be more motivated to try again
- If you succeed, you might attribute failure to one of the Stable causes and you would expect success again, and be more motivated to try again
Kelley explains attribution in terms of what principle?
Heuristics
What three kinds of information do we use, according to Kelley?
(Di. Co.C)
- Distinctiveness information
- Consensus information
- Consistency information
If the needed information is incomplete, we may use our own reaction to make inferences about what?
About how the other person reacts; we assume that they will react the same way as us
Jones and Nisbett pointed out that there are differences between the attributions of whom and whom? What is the direction of that difference?
The attributions of the actor and the observer
- Actors → more likely to explain their own behavior in terms of external factors
- Observers → more likely to explain the behavior of others in terms of internal causes
What are three explanations of actor/observer attributions that were discussed in class?
(IA. P. Mb)
- Information available
- Perspective
- Motivation bias
