Attribution Theory
Attribution Theory pertains to how humans explain the cause of people’s behavior,
including their own. According to this theory, we tend to try and make sense of why people
do what they do. According to this theory, we either attribute behavior to internal or
external causes.
Making an attribution means assigning a cause to something. When you are making an
attribution about someone’s behavior, you are judging the cause of that behavior. If you
think Sebastian is rude because he ignored you during passing period, you are attributing his
behavior to his personality. If you think Sebastian ignored you because he’s having a bad
day, you are attributing his behavior to his circumstances.
Internal / Dispositional Attribution:
§ Somebody’s disposition refers to their mood or general attitude about life. Someone who
is kind and outgoing could be described as having a friendly disposition.
§ When you make an internal or dispositional attribution, you are suggesting that
somebody’s behavior is a result of their personality, attitude, or choices. The fault lies with
them, not their circumstances.
§ EXAMPLE: When Olivia doesn’t share her pretzels with a classmate, the classmate thinks
Olivia is a rude person. They are attributing her behavior to who she is as a person.
External / Situation Attribution
§ When you make an external or situational attribution, you are suggesting that somebody’s
behavior is a result of their circumstances, the environment they are in, or other forces
outside of their control. The fault does not lie with them, it lies with external factors.​
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§ EXAMPLE: When Olivia doesn’t share her pretzels with a classmate, her teacher assumes
it’s because her family struggles to buy enough food and she’s really hungry. The teacher is
attributing her behavior to her circumstances, not who she is as a person.
Fundamental Attribution Error
In our attempts to explain other people’s behavior, we tend to give more emphasis to their
internal or dispositional qualities. That means we are more likely to blame their behavior on
who they are as a person rather than considering the circumstances that led to their
behavior. When we do this, we are committing the fundamental attribution error. We are
overestimating the influence of internal or dispositional factors and underestimating the
influence of external or situational factors.
§ Example: When someone falls asleep in class, we might assume they are lazy. In reality,
maybe they are working until late at night to help support their family or they were up late
taking care of a sick parent or sibling.​
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§ Point to remember: we make this error when we are explaining other people’s behavior.
Self-Serving Bias
When we are explaining the causes of our own behavior, we tend to attribute positive
outcomes to internal or dispositional factors. We like to take credit for our successes. If you
get promoted at work, you believe it’s because you are the hardest working employee
there. When an outcome is negative, we tend to attribute it to external or situational
factors. We tend to blame other people or outside factors when things don’t go our way.
When we are passed up for a promotion, we say it’s because our boss is playing favorites or
doesn’t acknowledge our hard work.
Attribution Theory Practice​
Directions: determine whether the following attributions are internal/dispositional
(I/D) or external/situational (E/S).
1. ___E/S__ Maria’s car breaks down on the freeway and her boss assumes she’s irresponsible
for not taking better care of her car.
2. I/D__ When Antonio does poorly at the football game, his parents believe it’s because his
coach doesn’t spend enough time helping him.
3. ____I/D_____ When Trina messes up her presentation at school, she believes it’s because she
is terrible at speaking in front of people.
4. _____E/S____ Lucas got accepted to a prestigious medical school. His professor says he is not
surprised since Lucas is so intelligent and hard-working.
5. ____E/S_____ When Marco drops his lunch tray in the cafeteria, his friends tell him he’s too
clumsy.
6. _____I/D____ When a car speeds past Lee Ann on the freeway, her friend says they are
irresponsible and rude for driving so dangerously.
7. ____E/S When a car speeds past Lee Ann on the freeway, she says they might have an
emergency and be heading to the hospital.
8. _____E/S____ Doug thinks Amanda is shy because she never talks to him in the morning when
they get to work.
9. ____I/D_____ Amanda thinks Doug is rude because he’s always trying to talk to her in the
morning when she’s still trying to wake up.
10. _____E/S____ Ezekiel thinks Rebecca is so quiet because their boss is always criticizing her in
front of their coworkers.
Directions: determine whether the following scenarios demonstrate the
fundamental attribution error (F) or self-serving bias (S).
1. ____F__ Maria’s car breaks down on the freeway and her boss assumes she’s irresponsible for
not taking better care of her car.
2. ____S_____ When Teo fumbles the ball during his football game, he says it’s because the
offensive line didn’t do a good enough job protecting him.
3. _____S____ When Jasmine’s group gets an A+ on their project, she believes it’s because she
worked harder than the rest of the group members.​
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4. ____F_____ When Antonio does poorly at the football game, his parents believe it’s because
his coach doesn’t spend enough time helping him.
5. _____F____ When Marco drops his lunch tray in the cafeteria, his friends tell him he’s too
clumsy.
6. _____S____ When Tina is late to school every day, she says it’s because there’s always too
much traffic.
7. _____F____ When Tina is late to school every day, her teacher believes it’s because she has
poor time management skills.