Social attribution Theory Flashcards
Main definition of attribution theory
A set of ideas on how inferences about the causes of action are made when observing or hearing about a persons actions
Three things needed for attribution theory
Observer explains an actors behavior to an entity
What is self attribution
Where the actor and observer are the same person
What are dispostions
enduring characteristics that account for other people’s behaviour
Advantages of drawing dispositional inferences
You can take random facts about somebody and integrate it, using it to make predictions of their behaviour
Define correspondent inference theory (CIT)
how people use others behavior as a basis for inferring their stable dispositions
Who described Correspondent Inference Theory (CIT)
Jones and Davis’ in 1965
What factors are important in the process of correspondent inference theory (CIT)
Behaviour is freely chosen
Behaviour is a product of unique causes
Behaviour is unusual
Another way to work out the reasons of CIT
How are they working things out, how are they responding to their environment
How to determine intentions under CIT
consider range of behaviours of the actor, whether the efects of those actions are desirable or not. ONly the actions of the time are condsidered
What perspective does CIT take?
That of the actor
Define analysis of non-common effects
Comparison of the consequences of the behavioural options open to the actor and theorugh the identification of their distinctive outcomes
Define correspondence bias
People tend to judge personal causes of behaviour but underestimate situational aspects
Define co-variation theory
The actions of the actor are judged from the point of view of the observer
What does the observer do in co-variation theory
determine causes of behaviour by collecting data about comparison cases
