Attribution (psychology) Study Guide

📖 Core Concepts Attribution – mental process of assigning cause to an event; can be internal (dispositional) or external (situational). Locus of Causality – continuum from external (environment) to internal (person). Three‑dimensional model (Weiner) – each attribution is evaluated on Stability (stable vs. unstable), Locus (internal vs. external), and Controllability (controllable vs. uncontrollable). Covariation Model (Kelley) – uses three informational cues Consensus, Distinctiveness, and Consistency to decide whether a cause is internal or external. Depressive Attributional Style – a maladaptive pattern: negative events are seen as internal, stable, and global. Learned Helplessness – arises when people repeatedly experience uncontrollable outcomes; it is reinforced by an external‑stable‑global attribution style. --- 📌 Must Remember Heider (1900s) – first to separate internal (ability, effort) from external (task difficulty) attributions. Kelley (1967) – covariation principle: High consensus + high distinctiveness + high consistency → internal attribution. Low on any → external attribution. Weiner (1969‑1970s) – adds stability and controllability to Heider’s locus dimension. Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE) – over‑emphasizing dispositional causes for others while under‑emphasizing situational factors. Actor‑Observer Difference – actors cite situational causes; observers cite dispositional causes. Self‑Serving Bias – credit internal causes for success, external causes for failure. Culture Bias – Individualistic cultures → more internal attributions; Collectivist cultures → more external attributions. Depressive Style → internal + stable + global for negative events; opposite pattern (often external, unstable, specific) for positive events. Learned Helplessness ↔ Attribution – perceiving uncontrollable outcomes as external, stable, global fuels helplessness. --- 🔄 Key Processes Kelley’s Covariation Inference Gather Consensus: Do others show the same behavior? Assess Distinctiveness: Does the person act this way only in this situation? Check Consistency: Does the person behave the same way every time the situation occurs? Combine cues → decide internal vs. external attribution. Weiner’s Three‑Dimensional Rating (for a single event) Rate Locus (internal/external). Rate Stability (stable/unstable). Rate Controllability (controllable/uncontrollable). Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ) Scoring For each described event, rate Internality, Stability, Globality (1–7 scale). Compute separate averages for positive and negative events; a higher negative‑event score indicates a depressive style. Attributional Retraining (e.g., older women) Identify maladaptive external‑stable attributions. Prompt re‑interpretation toward controllable or unstable explanations. Reinforce new attributions through feedback and practice. --- 🔍 Key Comparisons Heider vs. Kelley vs. Weiner Heider: simple internal vs. external split. Kelley: adds covariation cues (consensus, distinctiveness, consistency). Weiner: adds stability and controllability dimensions. Internal vs. External Attribution Internal: ability, effort, personality. External: task difficulty, luck, situational constraints. Fundamental Attribution Error vs. Actor‑Observer Difference FAE: applies to others (dispositional bias). Actor‑Observer: self vs. other perspective shift. Self‑Serving Bias vs. Defensive Attribution Self‑Serving: success = internal, failure = external. Defensive (Just‑World): negative outcomes blamed on victims’ internal flaws. Depressive vs. Non‑depressive Attributional Style Depressive: negative = internal + stable + global. Non‑depressive: more balanced, often external or unstable for failures. --- ⚠️ Common Misunderstandings “All internal attributions are good.” – Internal causes can be negative (e.g., blaming one’s own laziness). “High consensus always means internal.” – Consensus alone is insufficient; distinctiveness & consistency matter. “FAE and actor‑observer are the same.” – FAE is a general dispositional bias; actor‑observer is a self vs. other perspective shift. “Stability = controllability.” – A cause can be stable (e.g., ability) but still uncontrollable (e.g., genetics). --- 🧠 Mental Models / Intuition Cue‑Triad Ladder – Visualize the three covariation cues as rungs; the higher you climb (all three high), the more likely you land on an internal attribution. “Cause Cube” – Imagine a 3‑D cube where each axis is Locus, Stability, Controllability; any attribution is a point inside the cube. Depressive “Dark Cloud” – For negative events, the cloud always shades the same point: internal‑stable‑global → predicts hopelessness. --- 🚩 Exceptions & Edge Cases Cultural Moderation – Collectivist cultures may show lower consensus effects; they may default to external attributions even when cues suggest internal. Mixed Cue Patterns – High consensus but low distinctiveness leads to external attribution (e.g., everyone behaves the same because the situation forces it). Global vs. Specific – A cause can be stable but specific (e.g., a skill in math) → less depressive impact than a global stable cause (e.g., “I’m dumb at everything”). --- 📍 When to Use Which Diagnosing Clinical Depression → use Weiner’s three‑dimensional model + ASQ to capture stability/globality. Explaining Others’ Behavior in Social Psychology → start with Kelley’s covariation cues for systematic inference. Designing Interventions (e.g., retraining) → focus on shifting controllability and stability perceptions rather than locus alone. Legal/Judicial Contexts → anticipate juror bias: dispositional attributions → harsher sentencing; consider presenting strong situational evidence. --- 👀 Patterns to Recognize Cue Pattern → Attribution (High Consensus, High Distinctiveness, High Consistency) → Internal. (Low on any) → External. Depressive Attribution Pattern – Negative event rated Internal + Stable + Global; Positive event often External + Unstable + Specific. Bias Indicators – When a description emphasizes personal traits but omits situational context, suspect FAE. --- 🗂️ Exam Traps Confusing “Stability” with “Controllability.” Test items may swap the two; recall that stable = lasting over time, controllable = can be changed by effort. Misreading “Distinctiveness.” It refers to how uniquely the behavior occurs in that situation, not how different the person is. Attributing Culture Bias to All Individuals. The bias is probabilistic; many collectivist individuals still make internal attributions. Choosing the Wrong Model for a Question. If the prompt asks about cause‑cue inference, pick Kelley; if it asks about emotional/motivational consequences, pick Weiner. Over‑generalizing Self‑Serving Bias. It applies to success/failure judgments, not to neutral or ambiguous outcomes. ---