Ch. 10 Attribution Approaches

Question 1

Attribution Theory

Answer 1

• Humans try to make sense of the events around us
  When something of large or small consequence happens, we ask “why?”
• Evolutionarily adaptive to understand cause-and-effect relationships

Question 2

Two main types of attributions

Answer 2

• Dispositional (attribute behavior to consistent personality characteristics)
  e. g., the person’s abilities, motivations, intentions, effort
• Situational (attribute behavior to aspects of the situation)
  e. g., task difficulty, luck

Question 3

Jones and Davis Correspondent Inference Theory

Answer 3

• People observe a behavior and then make an inference about the intent of the behavior
• We look for a correspondence between the observed behavior, the inferred intent of that behavior, and a person’s disposition
• Before we make a dispositional attribution, we consider situational and behavioral factors
• Choice—did they have a choice of whether to act or how to act?
• Freely chosen activities lead to dispositional attributions

Question 4

Choice

Answer 4

• did they have a choice of whether to act or how to act?

- Freely chosen activities lead to dispositional attributions

Question 5

Social Desirability

Answer 5

• was the behavior in line with social norms?

- A socially desirable behavior won’t tell us much about disposition

Question 6

Noncommon Effects

Answer 6

• Does the behavior create an effect that would not have occurred via other behaviors?
• A unique effect from a specific behavior can give us a window into the person’s intent, which will allow us to make a dispositional attribution

Question 7

Kelley’s Covariation Theory

Answer 7

• Form a series of hypotheses concerning the causes of a particular event and then eliminate alternatives until we reach the most logical explanation of the event.
• We look toward past patterns of behavior to help us make attributions

Question 8

Distinctiveness

Answer 8

• Is this behavior unique for the individual?
• If person does this all the time=low distinctiveness (dispositional)
• If person has never done this before=high distinctiveness (situational)

Question 9

Consensus

Answer 9

• How many other people would have acted in the same way?
• If no one would have done the same thing = low consensus (dispositional)
• If everyone would have done the same thing = high consensus (situational)

Question 10

Consistency

Answer 10

• How long has person been doing this particular behavior?
• If doing it for a long time = high consistency
  If first time = low consistency
• Attribution depends on the other information available

Question 11

Self-Serving Bias

Answer 11

• The tendency to take credit for success and avoid responsibility for failure
• We are motivated to maintain a positive self-image
• So, if given a choice, we will make attributions that are favorable to our self-image

Question 12

False Consensus Effect

Answer 12

• Our tendency to believe that most other people think and act the same way that we do
• We are motivated to maintain social support and bolster self-esteem
• Thus we might be especially likely to make this error when we’re engaging in “deviant” behavior

Question 13

Actor-Observer Bias

Answer 13

• We have a tendency to infer dispositional attributions of others’ behavior but situational attributions of our own behavior
• Because actors is aware of his or her own background, past experiences, and intent, he/she attends to situational cues

Question 14

Fundamental Attribution Error

Answer 14

• The tendency to attribute behavior of others to stable, internal characteristics, and thus to underestimate the influence of situational factors