InternalExternal Stable Unstable Ability, Intelligence, Personality Traits Effort, Mood Luck, Transitory weather conditions Task difficulty Also, there are 2 other dimensions: Global versus Specific Causal Attributions

In a classroom At a party At work At a bar Susie Marcie Lolita Sister Mary Teresa Consensus) Seymore Tom Dick Harry (Consensus) The behavior to be explained: Seymore makes a pass at Lolita (Distinctiveness) (Consistency) Kelly’s Cube Model of Attribution

Typically, we do not have complete information about people on all three of Kelly’s dimensions. Also, research has shown that the dimension of “consistency” is used quite a bit, whereas “consensus” is not used frequently. Kelly’s Cube Model of Attribution (cont.)

Sue receive an A on the final paper for Professor Adams. Half the class got A’s on this paper, and the other half got B’s. This is the 1 st time that Sue has received an A on a paper; in her other courses she has obtained B’s on her papers. On the last paper for this class, Sue also received an A. Why did Sue get an A? She is an excellent writer Consistency: High or Low Her teacher is an easy grader Consensus: High or Low This paper was especially good Distinctiveness: High or Low Joan received an A on her final paper for Professor Downs. No one else in the class received an A. Joan gets A’s on almost all of her papers she writes in other classes. On the last paper for this class, Joan also received an A. Why did Joan get an A? She is an excellent writer Consistency: High or Low Her teacher is an easy grader Consensus: High or Low This paper was especially good Distinctiveness: High or Low

The actor/observer effect: The tendency to see other people’s behavior as dispositionally caused (e.g., ability, personality), while focusing more on the role of situational factors (e.g., task difficulty, bad luck) when explaining one’s own behavior. Actor-Observer Effect (Difference)

Perceptual salience: Actors notice the situations around them that influence them to act, while observers notice the actors Information access: Actors have more information about themselves than do observers (e.g., how consistent present behavior is to past behavior) Actor: “That’s the first free throw I’ve missed in 4 games” Motivational bias: Explanations for one’s successes that credit internal, dispositional factors, as opposed to failures, which are explained by external, situational factors (e.g., bad luck) [Self-esteem maintenance; self-presentation reasons] Reasons for the Actor-Observer Difference Actor’s focus is on the task (the basket) Observer’s focus is on the actor

Quiz Show Game Study (Power of social roles) Questioner (writes a set of 10 reasonably difficult questions Contestant (has to answer the questions by the questioner) Observers Ratings of others on a general knowledge rest Questioner perceived as more knowledgeable by contestants and observers Told that this assignment was random; it wasn’t

GPA and External Attributions for Failure Higher GPA Less absenteeism Lower dropout rate Greater satisfaction with school Training session to address issues facing new student, How to cope with Problems, Where to go for help, etc. Giving students realistic reasons for possible poor 1st year performance (e.g., new setting, more adjustments, harder classes)

Success is attributed to internal factors (Self-Enhancement Strategy ) Failure is attributed to external factors (Self-Protective Device) Prevalence of internal outcomes for both success and failure (especially unstable ones) Unexpected outcomes lead to a greater number of attributions (e.g., need for greater attributional searching for possible explanations) Overview Attributions in the Sports Pages

Attribution Examples in Sports Self-Attributions Internal & Unstable (most common) "I could not be as aggressive as I wanted to be and kind of flinched a couple of times" -- Golfer Ernie Els on a wrist injury and his 77 final round score "For this fight I had to lose a lot of weight. I wasn't that strong … “ --- Boxer Floyd "Pretty Boy" Mayweather on beating Jr. Jesus Chavez “It was one of those nights. I felt like I couldn’t miss” – Michael Jordan

Self-Handicapping Behavior Early assumptions: A)People wish to have accurate information/feedback regarding their abilities B) Role of achievement motivation (high versus low) Definition of self-handicapping strategies; behavior that: A)Enhance external attributions for failure B) Allows internal attributions for success (e.g., Kelly’s augmentation principle)

Self-Handicapping Behavior (cont.) "Cause" of self-handicapping A)Non-contingent reinforcement history, especially for success (e.g., Success not due to one’s ability or effort) B) Perception that successful performance cannot likely be repeated  The belief that one deserves or has partially earned their success (e.g., due to themselves) has to exist

Self-Handicapping Behavior (cont.) Insolvable Task “Success” Ability attributions Males Males attributed their “success” to ability more than females Females Insolvable Task-2 (stakes raised) Drug Choice Enhancing drug Impairing drug Private Public Males much more likely to choose impairing drug – even when only they were told of their initial success (private condition)

Misattribution and Speech Anxiety Placebo usage --- a) Cause of one’s arousal is not obvious b) Misattribution source is salient (obvious, easily observable) c) Misattribution source is perceived as plausible Giving a speech (anxiety arousing event) Subliminal noise to increase anxiety Subliminal noise to decrease anxiety Accurate information; e.g., it’s common to be anxious Less mistakes made during speech Anxiety is partially explained by the noise as well as the person

Intrinsic Motivation Overall Motivation = Internal + External Rewards Individuals who intrinsically enjoy their work Increase extrinsic (external) rewards (e.g., pay) Can lead to lowered intrinsic motivation Why? Intrinsic Motivation Extrinsic Motivation Extrinsic (external) factors now partially account for why individuals are motivated to perform a given task External rewards limit people’s sense of self-determination Tangible extrinsic rewards reliably undermine intrinsic motivation under most circumstances. The most detrimental reward contingency involves giving rewards as a direct function of people's performance. This is the one most often used in life, and it seems to be the one that is most detrimental to the motivation, performance, and well-being.

Seligman’s Suggestions A) Allow external attributions for failure (when reasonable) B) Develop strategies for improvement after failure C) Failure is not “the end of the world” (learning experience, feedback) D) Allow development of personal control in early years of life

Anger Happiness Surprise The six major (universal) emotional expressions Fear Sadness Disgust What two emotions are hard to distinguish?

Non-Verbal Communication 1) Emblems: Gestures that have specific meanings within a given culture (e.g., “OK” sign) 2) Illustrators: Gestures that emphasize a point 3) Affect displays: Basic emotional expressions (e.g., sad, happy) 4) Regulators: Gestures that help to foster communication (e.g., opening mouth to indicate one wants to speak, nodding head in agreement, raising eyebrows to indicate interest) 5) Adaptors: Nonverbal behavior (often habitual) that occur under stressful situations (e.g., twirling hair, tapping fingers)

Eye contact: Length of gaze (too little, just right, too much) Non-Verbal Communication (cont.) Personal space: Relationship to the other person Cultural differences Status differences (high status = more personal space) Touching: Cultural differences Gender Differences Status differences