1. PSY 338: Motivation Chapter 10:
Cognitive Motivation: Attribution Approaches

2. Attribution Theory
Theories that try to determine why people do what they do in order to uncover the feelings and traits that are behind their actions
December 14, 2012
“Why” was the first word out of many attempting to make sense of the Sandy Hook tragedy

3. Attribution Theory Three Basic Assumptions
We attempt to determine the causes of both our own behavior and that of others
We are motivated to seek out information that helps us to understand cause-and-effect relationships
This helps us understand and predict our social world
Assignment of causes to behavior is not done randomly
We depend on rules; in a way it is the reverse of expectancy
The causes attributed to particular behavior will influence subsequent emotional and nonemotional behaviors
Attributions activate other motives

4. Heider’s Naïve Psychology
“Naive” or “commonsense” psychology
Posits that people are like amateur scientists, trying to understand other people’s behavior by piecing together information until they arrive at a reasonable explanation or cause
Heider was intrigued by what seemed reasonable to people and by how they arrived at their conclusions
Fritz Heider
( )

5. Heider’s Naïve Psychology
When trying to decide what causes people’s behavior, we can make one of two attributions:
An internal, dispositional attribution
An external, situational attribution

6. Internal Attribution
The inference that a person is behaving in a certain way because of something about the person, such as attitude, character, or personality.
External Attribution
The inference that a person is behaving a certain way because of something about the situation he or she is in.
The assumption is that most people would respond the same way in that situation.

7. Heider’s Naïve Psychology
Satisfied spouses tend to show a particular attributional pattern:
Internal attributions for their partners’ positive behaviors (e.g., “She helped me because she’s such a generous person”)
External attributions for their partners’ negative behaviors (e.g., “He said something mean because he’s so stressed at work this week”)
In contrast, spouses in distressed marriages tend to display the opposite pattern:
Their partners’ positive behaviors are chalked up to external causes (e.g., “She helped me because she wanted to impress our friends”)
Negative behaviors are attributed to internal causes (e.g., “He said something mean because he’s a totally self-centered jerk”)

8. Heider’s Naïve Psychology
Although either type of attribution is always possible, he noted that we tend to see the causes of a person’s behavior as residing in that person (internal explanation)
We are perceptually focused on people—they are who we notice
The situation (the external explanation), which is often hard to see and hard to describe, may be overlooked

9. Heider’s Naïve Psychology
Heider’s Attributional Model (1958)
Dispositions
Abilities
Motivations
Intention
Exertion
Situational attributions
Task difficulty
Luck
See Figure 10.1 illustrates this model (see p. 305)

10. Correspondent Inference Theory
Jones & Davis (1965)
People try to infer from an action whether the act itself corresponds to an enduring personal characteristic of the actor
People make inferences based on:
Person’s degree of choice
Level of social desirability associated with that behavior
Noncommon effects – if a unique aspect of a behavior is witnessed

11. Correspondent Inference Theory
Mike Rice
Former Rutgers University Men’s BB Coach
Click on picture for video 

12. The Covariation Model: Internal versus External Attributions
Kelley (1967)
Harold Kelley’s major contribution to attribution theory was the idea that we notice and think about more than one piece of information when we form an impression of another person.
Covariation Model
A theory that states that to form an attribution about what caused a person’s behavior, we systematically note the pattern between the presence or absence of possible causal factors and whether or not the behavior occurs.

13. The Covariation Model: Internal versus External Attributions
The covariation model focuses on observations of behavior across time, place, actors, and targets.
It examines how the perceiver chooses either an internal or an external attribution.
We make such choices by using information on:
Consensus
Distinctiveness
Consistency
Kelley (1967)
Harold Kelley
( )

14. Consensus Information
Information about the extent to which other people behave the same way toward the same stimulus as the actor does.
Kelley (1967)
Distinctiveness Information
Information about the extent to which one particular actor behaves in the same way to different stimuli.
Consistency Information
Information about the extent to which the behavior between one actor and one stimulus is the same across time and circumstances.

15. Weiner’s Attribution Theory
Explanations for Success and Failure
Internal or External
Stable or Unstable
Controllable or Not
Attributions for Success and Failure
Ability
Effort
Task Difficulty
Luck
Bernard Weiner
(born in 1935)

16. Biases in Attribution
Some attributions are erroneous; Perceptions can be incorrect
So, why do we continue to make attributions even though we are often wrong?
Uncertainty leads to being uncomfortable

17. Self-Serving Bias
The tendency to take credit for our successes and to blame external factors for our failures
Kingdon (1967)
Interviewed successful & unsuccessful American politicians about major factors in successes & failures. Tended to attribute wins to internal factors (hard work, reputation) but failures to external (lack of money, national trends)
Actually involves two biases –
1)   Self-enhancing bias (taking credit for success)
2) Self-protecting bias (denying responsibility for failure)

18. Self-Serving Bias
E.g. student will take personal credit for doing well in an exam but the same student will blame test difficulty or lecturer’s tough marking policy for failure
Miller & Ross (1975)
Cognitive explanation due to restricted information NOT because they are motivated to protect or enhance the self

19. Explanations of self-serving bias
Cognitive explanation
Miller & Ross (1975)
If people intend to succeed, then behavior can be seen to be due to their efforts, then it seems reasonable to accept more credit for success than failure
Motivational explanation
Zuckerman (1979)
Posits that the need to maintain self-esteem directly affects the attribution of task outcomes

20. The False Consensus Effect
Tendency for people to see own behavior as typical & assume that others would do same under similar circumstances
Ross et al. (1977)
asked students if they would agree to walk around campus for 30 minutes wearing sandwich board saying ‘Eat at Joe’s’
Those who agreed estimated
62% of peers would agree
Those who refused estimated
67% of peers would refuse

21. Explaining the false consensus effect
Cognitive
Our own opinions are more salient to us & displace consideration of alternatives
We seek out company of similar others so encounter more people with similar beliefs, interests etc. – experience inflated consensus
Motivational
We subjectively justify the correctness of our opinions by grounding them in exaggerated consensus – may enable stable perception of reality

22. Actor-Observer Bias
The tendency for individuals to judge their own behaviors as caused by situational forces but the behavior of another as caused by his or her personality
OBSERVER-->Internal attribution
ACTOR-->External attribution
What is salient in the perceptual field?
i.e. what INFORMATION is available for the observer and the actor?
For OBSERVER: The actor
For ACTOR: Everything but the actor (i.e., the situation)

23. Actor-Observer Bias Harré, Brandt & Houkamau (2004)
The attributions of young drivers for their own and their friends' risky driving
Dispositional attributions e.g., "Showing off, acting cool" used more for friends than self
Situational attributions e.g., "In a hurry, late" used more for self than friends
Participants also rated their friends as taking more risks than themselves

24. Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)
Underestimation of the influence of situational factors on others’ behavior
Overestimation of the influence of dispositional factors on others behavior
In the movie, Bender falls victim to the fundamental attribution error. Bender’s personality is described by most as freeloading, aggressive, and disrespectful. At home, Bender is treated badly. He is constantly being verbally and physically abused and has to fend for himself. In Bender’s case, everyone attributed his actions to his personal disposition and did not take into account his home situation.
The Breakfast Club (1985)

25. Fundamental Attribution Error
Napolitan & Goethals (1979)
Procedures
College students
Group 1
Told that woman’s behavior would be spontaneous
Group 2
Told that woman would pretend to be friendly or unfriendly so don’t take it personally
Results
No significant differences were found between the groups
Interpretation
Even in the midst of obvious situational influences, we still make the FAE

26. I am not Spock Leonard Nimoy had to write a book
Fundamental Attribution Error
Leonard Nimoy had to write a book

27. Fundamental Attribution Error
Ross, Amabile & Steinmetz (1977)
Procedure
Two studies using undergraduates asked to play quiz game
Questioners
Asked to compose 10 difficult but not impossible questions to ask contestants
Contestants
Answered the questions
Observers (in a second study this group was added)
Watched the interaction

28. Fundamental Attribution Error
Ross, Amabile & Steinmetz (1977)
Results
Questioners rated themselves and the contestants equally
However, contestants viewed the questioners as having more general knowledge
The second study added a group of observers who watched the quiz game and their attributions mirrored those of the contestants in study 1
Interpretation
Clearly another case of FAE

29. Fundamental Attribution Error
What is the cause of FAE?
One possibility relates to salience
Observers tend to focus on the actor’s behavior rather than on the situation
Aspects of the situation are less salient and are given less weight when attributions are made
Much disagreement with this view
Incomplete; too simplistic

30. Fundamental Attribution Error
What is the cause of FAE?
Gilbert & Malone (1995)
These researchers posit four factors:
We may not be aware of the situational factors that weigh on the actor
We may be aware of but fail to fully appreciate the magnitude of the situational influences
Our experiences may affect our perception of the actor’s behavior
We may be unable or unwilling to fully consider the impact of the situation

31. Application of Research on Attributions
Achievement motivation can be defined as the need for success or the attainment of excellence
Dierner & Dweck (1978)
Procedures
Pretested for mastery or helpless orientation
Then performed a task that they would eventually fail at
Before performing the task, the attributions of the two groups were similar

32. Application of Research on Attributions
Achievement Motivation
Dierner & Dweck (1978)
Results
Mastery orientation group
Did not appear to define themselves as failures but rather searched for solutions for there failures
Helpless orientation group
Contributed failure to uncontrollable factors
Interpretation
Attributions clearly influence our future expectations of success

33. Application of Research on Attributions
Learned Helplessness
Abramson, Seligman, & Teasdale (1978)
Extended the early theory of learned helplessness to include how the type of attributions one makes is related to this phenomenon
They argue that an individual may attribute his or her own lack of control to either external or internal events

34. Application of Research on Attributions
Learned Helplessness
Abramson, Seligman, & Teasdale (1978)
Argued that an individual may attribute his or her own lack of control to either external or internal events related to the following factors:
Universal or personal
Felt that some situations we have no control over are universal; others are more of a personal nature
Only when it is of a personal nature will it affect self-esteem
Specific or global
Global attribution leads to depressed mood and lack of effort
Stable or unstable
Helplessness as perceived as stable greatly extends the time course of learned helplessness

35. Credits Some slides prepared with the help of the following websites:
soculleighton.files.wordpress.com/.../achievement-motivation-and-attribu...