by Bradley Wilson

Created on: October 19, 2009   Last Updated: December 09, 2009

Attribution Concept

The attribution concept is an attempt by individual observers to understand the causative factors of everyday events.

"When Shane arrived at school, an angry group of young boys stood at the flagpole to meet him."

Depending on your background you read this sentence one of two ways: What did Shane do to make the boys angry?; or What is it about Shane that the boys don't like? Does the problem lie with Shane or with the circumstances surrounding him?

How we interpret the causative factors in this example depend upon whether you, as observer, assign responsibility to Shane or to something else. This is the attribution concept in action. According to attribution theory two options exist here: internal attribution or external attribution. How observers interpret an event or perceive an individual is based on this simple choice: is the individual responsible (internal) or is the event or circumstances beyond his control (external)?

As observers we arrive at conclusions about people and these conclusions can prejudice our beliefs about a person or our expectations of future results, whether or not we have considered all factors.

In effect we are taking a specific piece of information and making a broad statement or hatching predictions of future results. These applications of the attribution concept surround us each day.

Observers bring into the observation space a set of personal experiences, used in their evaluation of others and with this may come bias, errors in judgment and cultural prejudice.

Culturally the attribution concept is deeply ingrained. Western cultures, valuing individuality, tend to project internal types of attributes onto subjects. Socialistic or communal type cultures tend to project external type attributes onto subjects.

http://tip.psychology.org/weiner.html

http://webspace.ship.edu/ambart/PSY_220/attributiono l.htm

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