cours 5

• Attribution Theory


  Explores how individuals deduce the causes behind their own and others' actions
• Attribution Theory


  • Central focus is on the rationale behind causal explanations for behavior, rather than pinpointing the actual causes
  • Emphasis is on understanding how laypeople, as opposed to psychologists, commonly rationalize the causes of behaviors
  • Rooted in Heider's (1958) work, this theory scrutinizes the logical relationships (covariation) between potential causes and the behavior in question
• Internal causes


  Related to the person
• External causes


  Related to the situation or context
• Kelley's Covariation Model


  1. Observers gather information on consensus, consistency, and distinctiveness to formulate causal explanations for behaviors

  2. Judgments are made based on the covariation (correlation) between the behavior and its possible causes

  3. The behavior is attributed to the factor that is present when the behavior manifests and absent when it does not

  
• Consensus

  The behavior of others in similar contexts
• Consistency


  The behavior across different situations
• Distinctiveness


  The behavior towards different entities or objects
• Less than 20% of participants' inquiries aligned with the covariation model in a study on information seeking
• People tend to question why an event occurred as opposed to not occurring, rather than why it diverged from the norm
• Fundamental Attribution Error/Correspondence Bias


  The tendency to attribute others' actions more to their character or personality and one's own behaviors to external situational factors
• Two-step process of Correspondence Bias


  Automatic Phase: People instinctively ascribe others' behaviors to their personality

  2. Corrective Phase: Situational factors are considered only under certain conditions, such as unexpected behavior or when enough mental effort can be expended
• Correspondence bias stems from our focus on personality rather than situational factors
• Attribution Theory


  Explores how individuals deduce the causes behind their own and others' actions
• Attribution Theory


  • Central focus is on the rationale behind causal explanations for behavior, rather than pinpointing the actual causes
  • Emphasis is on understanding how laypeople, as opposed to psychologists, commonly rationalize the causes of behaviors
  • Rooted in Heider's (1958) work, this theory scrutinizes the logical relationships (covariation) between potential causes and the behavior in question
• Internal causes

  Related to the person
• External causes


  Related to the situation or context
• Kelley's Covariation Model

  1. Observers gather information on consensus, consistency, and distinctiveness to formulate causal explanations for behaviors

  2. Judgments are made based on the covariation (correlation) between the behavior and its possible causes

  3. The behavior is attributed to the factor that is present when the behavior manifests and absent when it does not
• Consensus


  The behavior of others in similar contexts
• Consistency


  The behavior across different situations
• Distinctiveness


  The behavior towards different entities or objects
• Less than 20% of participants' inquiries aligned with the covariation model in a study on information seeking
• People tend to question why an event occurred as opposed to not occurring, rather than why it diverged from the norm
• Fundamental Attribution Error/Correspondence Bias


  The tendency to attribute others' actions more to their character or personality and one's own behaviors to external situational factors
• Two-step process of Correspondence Bias

  Automatic Phase: People instinctively ascribe others' behaviors to their personality

  2. Corrective Phase: Situational factors are considered only under certain conditions, such as unexpected behavior or when enough mental effort can be expended
• Correspondence bias stems from our focus on personality rather than situational factors
• The bias towards dispositional attribution is stronger for negative behaviors, but reverses to situational attribution for positive ones, suggesting a self-serving bias
• Self-protective attributions in accidents


  The tendency to blame individuals more for accidents with severe consequences rather than minor ones, stemming from a psychological need to feel in control and believe that serious misfortunes can be avoided
• Perceived similarity to the accident victim


  Affects the attribution of responsibility, with low similarity leading to strong attribution of responsibility towards the victim in severe accidents, and high similarity reducing the likelihood of blaming the victim
• Workplace accidents are typically attributed externally by employees (e.g., high workload, poor equipment, insufficient training), while supervisors attribute them internally (e.g., carelessness, showing off, lack of skills of the accident victim)
• Colleagues attribute accidents more to the work environment (external), especially if they work under similar conditions or perceive the injured colleague as similar in other ways
• Own accident experiences are associated with more external attributions
• The victim, as it could imply personal vulnerability to similar accidents
• Evidence Supports the Similarity Effect


  • The influence of similarity on attribution has been consistently supported across various studies, highlighting its importance in understanding workplace safety and accident response
• Attribution and Workplace Safety

  26.03.2024
• Workplace accidents are typically attributed

  Externally by employees (e.g., high workload, poor equipment, insufficient training)<|>Internally by supervisors (e.g., carelessness, showing off, lack of skills of the accident victim)
• Clear tendency towards self-protective attributions
• Colleagues attribute accidents more to the work environment (external)


  Especially if they work under similar conditions or perceive the injured colleague as similar in other ways
• Own accident experiences are associated with

  More external attribution<|>Higher risk behavior
• Safety climate


  The perception of safety within an organization