attribution theory
Summary
Attribution theory is the social psychology account of how people explain behavior, as dispositional (internal traits) or situational (external circumstances). Most testable: observers often favor dispositional explanations for others (fundamental attribution error), while actors often cite situations for themselves.
Detail
Meaning: Attribution theory, begun by Heider, describes how people infer the causes of their own and others' behavior. An attribution is dispositional (internal: personality, ability, effort, attitude) or situational (external: circumstances, luck, other people). Kelley's covariation model says people judge cause using consensus (do others act this way?), distinctiveness (does the person act this way only in this situation?), and consistency (does it recur over time?).
On the MCAT: Passages describe a behavior and ask what explanation an observer or the actor would give. Know the biases: fundamental attribution error (observers tend to overweight dispositional causes for others' behavior), actor-observer bias (own behavior explained situationally, others' dispositionally), and self-serving bias (success credited to internal factors, failure to external ones). In Kelley's model, low consensus, low distinctiveness, and high consistency point to a dispositional cause; high on all three points to a situational cause.
Common confusion: Attribution theory is the framework; the fundamental attribution error is one tendency within it. These are tendencies, not laws, and they vary with culture and context. The actor-observer bias depends on roles: the same person tends to explain their own behavior situationally but a stranger's dispositionally.
Sources
- Social Psychology (Myers)
- Psychology (Myers)
- Social Psychology (Aronson, Wilson, Akert)
Written for the MCAT and checked before it was published. For study reference only. Spotted an error? Let us know.