Interpersonal Relationships THEORIES OF ATTRIBUTION AND ATTRIBUTION BIASES

TODAYS OBJECTIVES YOU MUST BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THE FOLLOWING: DEFINITION OF ATTRIBUTION DESCRIBE AND EVALUATE THEORIES OF ATTRIBUTION PUT FORWARD BY JONES & DAVIS (1965) AND KELLEY (1967) WHAT EACH OF THESE THEORIES TELL US THROUGH EVIDENCE ABOUT ATTRIBUTIONS ANALYSE EXPLANATiONS OF ATTRUBUTIONAL BIASES THROUGH APPLICATION SCENARIOS.

Key terms for glossary (use Psychology dictionary if unsure) Actor-Observer effect Attribution Cognitive Miser Correspondence Inference Co-Variation model External (situational)attribution Fundamental Attribution Error Internal (dispositional) Attribution Naive Psychologist

STARTER TASK WRITE DOWN 3 REASONS WHY SOMEONE IS HOMELESS THINK OF A SPECIFIC TIME WHEN SOMEONE WAS RUDE TO YOU E.G TRAFFIC/DRIVING THINK OF A SPECIFIC TIME WHEN YOU WERE RUDE TO SOMEONE ELSE

WHAT DID YOU CONCLUDE? ASSUMPTIONS? BIASES? THINKING LED BY OTHERS? EDUCATED GUESS? ATTRIBUTION THEORY PURPORTS THAT PEOPLE DO NOT JUST PASSIVELY OBSERVE THEIR OWN AND OTHER PEOPLES ACTIONS, BUT TRY TO WORK OUT WHAT CAUSED THEM. ATTRUBTION REFERS TO THE DECISIONS WE MAKE OVER WHAT WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR WITNESSED BEHAVIOUR; THE PERSONALITY OR SOCIAL SITUAITON THEY WERE EXPERIENCEING.

ATTRIBUTION THEORY 1.) Naïve psychologist (Heider, 1958) Attribution theory - The conceptual framework within social psychology dealing with lay, or common sense explanations of behaviour. Through life we gradually construct explanations/theories of why people behave in certain ways THEORISTS: 1.) Naïve psychologist (Heider, 1958) 2.) Correspondent inference (Jones & Davis, 1965) 3.) Kelley’s Co-Variation model

Primary questions 1.) What are the main characteristics of attributions? 2.) How are attributions are made?

Naïve Psychologist (Fritz Heider,1958) Sets out the foundations of attribution theory “common sense psychology” Individual as a ‘Naïve Scientist’ Two important contributions 1.) Proposed the idea of internal & external causes of behaviour 2.) Perceivers ignore part or all situational factors when explaining behaviour. (Later theorists who expanded on and developed Heider’s ideas: Kelley,1967; Jones & Davis,1965; Weiner, 1979. )

Correspondent Inference Theory (Jones & Davis, 1965) When Judging another's behaviour, we use information to draw a correspondent inference where the behaviour is attributed to a disposition/personality characteristic. Use Various characteristics to do this including: Social Desirability - behaviours low in sociably desirability (not conforming) lead us to make (internal) dispositional inferences more than socially undesirable behaviours.  For example, if you observe a person getting on a bus and sitting on the floor instead of one of the seats. This behaviour has low social desirability (non conforming) and is likely correspond with the personality of the individual.  Non Common effects: If the other person’s behaviour has important consequences for ourselves.  For example if the person asks us out on a date we assume it was the fact that they like you that was important (not that you were simply available!). Important historically but its impact has been limited.

Correspondent Inference Theory Do you agree with Jones et al? Why? Why not?

Kelley’s Model (1967,1973) What information is used to arrive at a causal attribution? Developed a logical model for judging whether a particular action should be attributed to some characteristic (internal) of the person or the environment (external)

Covariation: Multiple observations Covariation Principle – An effect is attributed to a condition that is present when the effect is present, and absent when the effect is absent. (e.g. donuts disappear/ Homer) Based on statistical technique ANOVA. Examines changes in a dependent variable (the effect) by varying independent variables (the conditions); The “Science bit”

Why did the students fall asleep during the lecture? e.g. The majority of the students fell asleep in Lynda's lecture on theories of attribution. They also fell asleep during her other lectures, but not lectures given by other teaching staff. High consensus High consistency High distinctiveness Boring lecturer?

Why did the students fall asleep during the lecture? e.g. The majority of the students fell asleep in Lynda's’ lecture on theories of attribution. They never fell asleep during her other lectures, or in lectures given by other teaching staff. High consensus Low consistency High distinctiveness Day after formal ball? Hot lecture theatre?

But… Works well for person and entity No single clear pattern which can lead to circumstance attributions. These seem to be maximised when consistency is low (Forsterling, 1989; Hewstone & Jaspars, 1987) This can be seen as a limitation to the model

APPLICATION USING THEORIES ACTIVITY - With the person next to you discuss and write down your ideas in relation to the following scenario: One of your fellow colleagues is late for their shift on a hospital ward where you are on placement. How might you explain their late arrival? What kinds of information would you need in order to make a causal attribution?

Bias in Attribution What is Attributional Bias? 1. “Cognitive Misers” 2. Insufficient Information or highlight some areas more than others. 3. Information may be used in mays that maximises its use e.g. predictor of future behaviour. Fundamental Attribution Error Actor-Observer Effect Self Serving Bias Lets explore these in detail and application.

Attribution in Eye Witness Testimony (handout) Explain how factors such as FAE, Actor Observer Effect and Self-Serving Bias contribute to reliable or unreliable EWT.

References and Further Reading Gross, R “Psychology The Science of Mind and Behaviour” 4th Edition Chapter 23 pp 341- 347 Hogg, M.A. & Vaughan G.M “Social Psychology” 6th Edition Chapter 3 pp 80-97 http://www.simplypsychology.org/attribution-theory.html