Lecture 9 - Social attribution

• Attribution theory


  The conceptual framework within social psychology dealing with common-sense explanations of behaviour
• We construct explanations/theories of why people behave in certain ways
• The 'Naïve psychologist'


  (Heider, 1958)
• Correspondent inference


  (Jones & Davis, 1965)
• Attribution theory


  Deals with the general principles by which people explain their own behaviour and the behaviour of others
• Attribution theory


  Has become synonymous with the causal explanations of behaviour
• Causes of behaviour


  • Dispositional (or internal) attributions (ability, effort, personality, attitude)
  • Situational (or external) attributions (environmental causes, demands of situation or luck)
• The naïve psychologist (Heider,1958)


  • Sets out the foundations of attribution theory as "common sense psychology"
  • Individual as a 'Naïve Scientist'
• Heider's 'Naïve analysis of action'

  • Perceivers tend to ignore situational factors when explaining behaviour
  • Perceivers underestimate the role of situational factors in the behaviour of others, and overestimate the role of dispositional factors (the fundamental attribution error)
• Correspondent inference theory (Jones and Davis, 1965)


  The essence is that the observed behaviour corresponds with some underlying stable characteristic of the actor
• Correspondent inference theory


  • Attribution of intention - the perceiver must believe that the actor knew the consequences of their behaviour and had the ability to perform the behaviour
  • Attribution of disposition - a correspondent inference is made when an action is intentional, low in social desirability, and yields noncommon effects
• Correspondent inference theory


  • Perceivers were more likely to make a correspondent inference when the behaviour had specific effects for the perceiver (hedonic relevance) and when the behaviour was seen as being aimed at the perceiver personally (personalism)
• Co-variation theory (Kelley, 1967)


  People use information derived from multiple observations and can utilise information about the co-variation between these
• Co-variation theory


  • Information was obtained from consensus (how far the effect varies across persons) consistency (how far the effect varies across time) and distinctiveness (how far the effect varies across different stimuli)
  • A dispositional attribution is made when consensus and distinctiveness are both low, and consistency is high
• Capacity responsibility


  A person's ability to understand and behave according to the dictates of law and morality
• Liability responsibility


  The moral or legal accountability of someone judged to possess capacity responsibility
• Free will & responsibility

  • There must be a connection between the actor and the event
  • There must be a shared system of morality
  • Humans must be seen as capable of free choice
  • There must be a belief that the actor acted voluntarily
  • The responsibility for an actor's behaviour is reduced if the perceiver accepts that there were extenuating circumstances for the behaviour
• Relationship between causality & responsibility

  • For a perceiver to make an attribution of responsibility for an action, causation is insufficient, there must also be evidence of intent
  • The process of blame attribution begins with a morally disapproved action for which there is a single personal cause
• Relationship between causality & responsibility

  • Actor did not intend the consequences but should have anticipated them, they are guilty of negligence (not blame)
  • Actor intended the consequences, but was coerced or lacked capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of their actions, they are responsible for consequence (but not for blame)
  • Actor offers an excuse or justification for their actions, if this is accepted, they are responsible (but not to blame)
  • Actor intended their actions, which were performed voluntarily, and no excuse or justification is accepted by the perceiver, then the actor is to blame for the consequences of their action
• Relationship between causality & responsibility

  • The attribution of responsibility might be compromised by the perceiver's own motives such as the 'self-serving bias' and the 'just-world hypothesis' (people get what they deserve)
• Causes of the "fundamental attribution error"

  • Cognitive Explanations (information about the behaviour of the actor is more salient than information about the situation, different rates in 'forgetting' situational and dispositional information)
  • Socio-Cultural differences (Dispositional bias reflects an individualistic culture, Western cultures emphasize the agency of individuals)
• The Self-Serving Bias


  • Self-enhancing bias: We attribute success to internal causes
  • Self-protecting bias: We attribute failure to external causes
  • Above average effect
  • Illusions of control
  • Unrealistic optimism
  • Self-handicapping
  • Belief in a just world
• Above-average effect


  The belief that we are 'better' than the average person in activities we do
• Ultimate attribution error


  Pettigrew (1979) extended the fundamental attribution error to groups, positive ingroup and negative outgroup attributions are dispositional, while negative ingroup and positive outgroup attributions and situational
• Attributions and mental health

  • Abramson and Martin (1981) propose a link between the 'self-serving bias' and depression, depressives tend to have specific attributional styles (failure is attributed to internal factors, this is a long-term, stable and permanent feature, it is seen as a global, pervasive deficiency)
  • Davison and Neale (1994) suggest men engage in activities that distract them from depression, women are less active in this respect, and ponder over their situation, and blame themselves for being depressed