ATTRIBUTIONS & VALUES
ATTRIBUTION THEORY:
• TYPES OF ATTRIBUTIONS
• FUNCTIONS
• FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION ERROR
Cultural and motivational factors
• ACTOR-OBSERVER BIAS
• ROOTS OF THESE BIASES
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES ON ATTRIBUTIONAL PROCESSES:
• LOCUS OF CONTROL
• RECIPROCAL DETERMINISM
• LOCUS, STABILITY AND CONTROLLABILITY
Emotional effects
• ATTRIBUTIONAL STYLES
Pessimism, Optimism
Differentiating ‘optimism’ from ‘positive illusions’
VALUES
• Schwartz’s classification
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ATTRIBUTION:
- finding, giving, explaining the cause of events
- very important type of cognition
- influenced by beliefs about the social world (e.g.,
power of context vs. internal factors)
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Whose fault?
Whose merits?
control, blame, fate, freedom
…… Are we at the mercy of external forces or are the results of our
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actions under our own control?
How much do you tend to agree/disagree with these statements?
There's no sense planning a lot - if something good is going to happen, it will.
The really good things that happen to me are mostly luck.
I am responsible for my own success.
I can do just about anything I really set my mind to.
Most of my problems are due to bad breaks.
I have little control over the bad things that happen to me.
My misfortunes are the result of mistakes I have made.
I am responsible for my failures.
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“ We take the stand that there are always some
alternative constructions available to choose
among in dealing with the world. No one needs to
paint himself into a corner; no one needs to be
completely hemmed in by circumstances; no one
needs to be the victim of his biography. We call
this philosophical position constructive
alternativism.”
George Kelly (1955). "A Theory of personality."
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“Further, when you are powerless, you don’t
just speak differently. A lot of you don’t
speak. Your speech is not just differently
articulated, it is silenced. Eliminated, gone.
You aren’t just deprived of a language with
which to articulate your distinctiveness,
although you are; you are deprived of a life
out of which articulation might come.”
Catherine MacKinnon (1987). “Difference and Dominance”
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BASIC FACTS ABOUT
ATTRIBUTIONS
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ATTRIBUTION THEORY:
Studies the psychological processes behind how people
ascribe causes to events (self and others).
Nisbett & Ross (1991). The person and the situation.
2 TYPES OF ATTRIBUTIONS:
•Internal/Personal (cause is within the actor: personality, mood,
ability, effort, wishes)
•External/Situational(cause is outside the actor: other people,
luck, pressure, $$$, weather)
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What functions do attributions serve?

help predict & control environment

help determine self/other thoughts, feelings,
& behaviors

influence expectations for future

impact on own performance
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When do we make attributions?

unexpected


negative


e.g., driver runs a traffic light
e.g., bad test grade
events with uncertain causes

e.g., date doesn’t call in weeks
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FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION
ERROR (FAE)
Tendency for people (in Western cultures)
to underestimate situational influences &
overestimate person influences on others’
behavior.
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FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION
ERROR & CULTURE
 Individualistic
cultures focus on individual
freedom, autonomy, & choice

fosters tendency to make person attributions (i.e., commit
the FAE)
 Collectivistic
cultures focus on group
memberships & conformity to group norms

fosters tendency to make situation attributions
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Question for the class:
What factors (philosophy, religion, politics, economy)
could be behind these cultural differences between
US/Northern Europe and the rest of the world?
(Triandis, 1986)
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FAE & CULTURE
Lee, Hallahan, Herzog (1996)
2.60
U.S.
Hong Kong
Internal vs.
External
Attributions
-.09
-1.22
-2.50
Sports
LOW COMPLEXITY
Type
Editorials
HIGH COMPLEXITY
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FAE & MOTIVATION
Lee & Hallahan (1998)
.20
.18
Doctor Vignette
Lawyer Vignette
Situational
Attributions
-.05
.03
-.14
-.21
Pre-med
Pre-law
Neither
Intended Career
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ACTOR-OBSERVER BIAS
(AOB)
Tendency to attribute one’s own behavior to
situational causes & others’ behavior to person
causes.
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Some Cognitive & Motivational Roots
of FAE & AOB:
Perceptual Salience
 as observer, person doing behavior is most salient
 as actor, situation is most salient
People are Cognitive Misers
 generally less effort to make IA than to search for possible Eas
Self-Esteem Concerns
 allow people to feel good about themselves or their groups
People Seek a Coherent Understanding of the World
 by making IAs of others’ behavior we impose stability their
behavior & thus a sense of prediction & control
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INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES ON
ATTRIBUTION
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LOCUS OF CONTROL
(Rotter, 1966)
• External Locus: describes people who believe that fate, luck,
or outside forces are responsible for what happens to them.
• Internal Locus: describes people who believe that ability,
effort, or their own actions determine what happens to them.
Locus of control influences which forces we hold responsible for our successes
and failures --> great influence on our motivation, expectations, self-esteem,
risk-taking behavior, and even on the actual outcome of our actions.
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
HEALTH-RELATED BEHAVIOR
SOCIAL ACTIVISM
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Illustrative Items from Rotter’s
Internal-External Locus of Control Scale
Many of the unhappy things in people's lives are due partly to bad luck.
People's misfortunes result from the mistakes they make.
One of the major reasons we have wars is that people don't take enough interest
in politics.
There will always be wars, no matter how hard people try to prevent them.
Sometimes I can't understand how teachers arrive at the grades they give.
There is a direct connection between how hard I study and the grades I get.
The average citizen can have an influence in government decisions.
This world is run by the few people in power and there isn't much the little guy
can do about it.
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ORIGINS AND DYNAMICS OF LOCUS OF CONTROL?
(Bandura, 1977)
1 Beliefs affect behavior and environment
2 Behavior influences environment and beliefs
3 Environment influences behavior and beliefs
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POSSIBLE CAUSES OF ACHIEVEMENT OUTCOMES
ACCORDING TO LOCUS, STABILITY AND
CONTROLLABILITY
(Weiner, 1979)
INTERNAL
EXTERNAL
CONTROLLABILITY
Stable
Unstable
Stable
Controllable
Typical effort
exerted
Temporary
Some forms of
effort
teacher bias
exerted (for this
particular task)
Unusual help
from others
Uncontrollable
Ability
Mood
Luck
Task difficulty
Unstable
EXAMPLE: Doing well/bad in Org Chemistry
Newest dimension  GLOBALITY
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Table 8.4: EMOTIONAL EFFECTS OF CAUSAL ATTRIBUTION
ATTRIBUTION
DIMENSION
OUTCOME
Success, positive
Failure, negative
Low self-esteem, depression
Guilt (if temporary and/or controllable)
Shame (if enduring and/or controllable)
Internal
Pride, self-esteem
External
Gratitude (especially if controllable) Resignation
Note: Only study this part of the table
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ATTRIBUTIONAL STYLES (Peterson & Seligman, 1984)
Optimistic: Failure is attributed to external, unstable, and specific
causes and success to internal, stable, global causes.
Pessimistic: Failure is attributed to internal, stable, global causes and
success to external, unstable, and specific causes.
Is optimism always healthy?
• Taylor & Brown (1988): “illusions of control and unrealistic optimism
are associated with (+) mental health; realism may be a sign of
depression”
• Colvin & Block (1994): “need to differentiate between healthy
optimism (viewing new, uncertain events in a positive light) from
positive illusions (viewing events in a positive light even when facts
don’t support that view)
Is pessimism always unhealthy?
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VALUES (Schwartz, 1992)
POWER: Social status and prestige, control or dominance over people and resources. (social power,
authority, wealth, preserving my public image)
ACHIEVEMENT: Personal success through demonstrating competence according to social
standards. (successful, capable, ambitious, influential)
HEDONISM: Pleasure and sensuous gratification for oneself. (pleasure, enjoying life, selfindulgent)
STIMULATION: Excitement, novelty, and challenge in life. (daring, a varied life, an exciting life)
SELF-DIRECTION: Independent thought and action-choosing, creating, exploring. (creativity,
freedom, independent, curious, choosing own goals)
UNIVERSALISM: Understanding, appreciation, tolerance and protection for the welfare of all
people and for nature. (broadminded, wisdom, social justice, equality, a world at peace, a world of
beauty, unity with nature, protecting the environment)
BENEVOLENCE: Preservation and enhancement of the welfare of people with whom one is in
frequent personal contact. (helpful, honest, forgiving, loyal, responsible)
TRADITION: Respect, commitment and acceptance of the customs and ideas that traditional
culture or religion provide the self. (humble, accepting my portion in life, devout, respect for
tradition, moderate)
CONFORMITY: Restraint of actions, inclinations, and impulses likely to upset or harm others and
violate social expectations or norms. (politeness, obedient, self-discipline, honoring parents and
elders)
SECURITY: Safety, harmony and stability of society, of relationships, and of self. (family security,
national security, social order, clean, reciprocation of favors)
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VALUES (Schwartz, 1992)
Universalism
Benevolence
Conservation
Openness to change
Self transcendence
Tradition
Self-direction
Conformity
Security
Stimulation
Power
Hedonism
Achievement
Self enhancement
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