Making Attributions Flashcards
2 main modules of attribution process:
1) correspondent Inference Theory
2) The co-variation model - Kelley
Correspondent Inference Theory (Jones and Davis)
what is it?
3 key types of info used to assess correspondence between behaviour and personality?
when making social inferences people try to infer that the action of an actor corresponds to a stable personality trait
idea:people prefer internal,dispositional attributions over external due to knowledge being more valuable for predictions on behaviour
we assess correspondence between behaviour and personality by processing 3 key types of info
1)social desirability-whether the behaviour is consistent with social norms
2)choice - whether behaviour was freely chosen or not
3)non-common effects- when a behaviour has a unique consequence(dispositional attribution more likely if behaviour has unique effect)
limitation= limited to single instances of behaviour and focuses on internal attributions
The co-variation model (Kelley)
accounts for multiple behaviours
also details processes that result in external attributions
states: causality is attributed using the co-variation principle = for something the be the cause of the behaviour it must be present when the behaviour is(must co-vary)
Heider(1958) stated people are motivated by 2 primary needs:
1)the need to form a coherent view of the world
2)the need to gain control over the environment
=makes us behave like naive scientists (rationally and logically testing hypotheses about others behaviours)
Attribution theory
Why do we attribute?
experiment by Heider and Simmel?
we have a basic need to attribute causality because this ascribes meaning to our world(this is a major driving force in human social needs)
asked ps to describe movement of abstract geometric shapes and found they all had a tendency to describe movements in ways indicative of human intentions
Types of attribution?
Internal = any explanation that locates the cause as being internal to the person eg. mood External = locating cause as being external to person eg. situation
Further subdivision of types of inference?
1) stability= refers to extent to which causes are relatively stable and permanent(eg.natural ability) vs temporary and fluctuating (eg.drunk)
2) controllability= the extent to which causes can be influenced by others(eg. effort) vs extent to which they are random (eg.luck)
- -when there are multiple potential causes we ascribe causality to the one that co-varies most
Co-variation Model states 3 types of info needed for arriving at internal or external attribution:
1) consensus- extent to which other people in some environment react same way as target person
(high = situational, low = dispositoinal)
2) consistency - target person reacts same way on different occasions
(high = dispositional, low = situational)
3) distinctiveness - target person reacts same way in other social contexts
(high = situational, low = dispositoinal)
Interaction of these different elements can change attribution (people acting like naive scientists)
Attributional biases
Kelleys model = idealised account of how people attribute causality, but we don’t always use the 3 types of info to come to a conclusion, sometimes its a gut feeling
(this was researched due to biases people were making)
Fundamental attribution error:
=general tendency to make internal attributions= causes errors in judgement. Jones and Harris study:
p’s had to read essay for or against a rule in cuba
1/2 told writer chose topic, 1/2 told writers were told to do topic
p’s then asked to give writers viewpoint:
condition 1 and 2- guessed it was writers own opinion
(wouldn’t expect this from group 2)
this shows FAE occurs due to perceptual salience
-person being observed =most perceptually salient aspect of the situation = internal attributions more salient
so, what appears to capture attention most determines social judgement(not complex thought)
limitation- lacks cross cultural validity…
individualist= peoples behaviours explained more by looking at individual (collectivist = focus on broader collective)
The actor-observor bias ( Jones and Nisbett )
tendency to attribute others behaviours to internal causes and our own behaviour to external causes
Storms study:’conversation task’ 2ps observers and 2 actors who have convo. Then asked to attribute causality of opinions given
observers emphasised dispositional factors
actors emphasised situational factors for self
explanation = perceptual salience(actors focus away from self and on situation = situational attribution, and observers focused on actors = dispositional)
self-serving attribution
motivation can cause bias attribution
Olson and Ross - we are more likely to make internal attributions for our successes and external for failures
–> protects our self esteem
Intergroup attributions
make ‘group’ serving attributions eg. own team winning= skill, other team = luck
serve to propagate prejudice and discrimination against minority social groups = causes intergroup biases
Attribution and social processes
1) attitude formation - through self-perception (review behaviour and conclude attitude)
2) social influence - we sometimes believe minority groups due to attributing credibility to them
3) Romantic love - misattribution of arousal
Moscovicis social representation
shared belieds and understandings between broad groups of people
–> people can construct a sense of reality without need of complete attributional rules
