situational

Meaning: Attribution theory describes how people explain the causes of behavior. A situational (external) attribution places the cause in circumstances such as social pressure, luck, other people, or the setting. A dispositional (internal) attribution places it in the person's traits, motives, or attitudes. A second, related sense is situationism, the view that the situation shapes behavior more than stable personality traits do, which contrasts with trait theories of personality.

On the MCAT: A vignette describes someone behaving in a certain way, such as a driver cutting off another car, and asks which attribution is being made or which bias is at work. Know the patterns. Fundamental attribution error: when judging others, observers tend to overweight dispositional causes. Actor-observer bias: people tend to explain their own behavior situationally and others' behavior dispositionally. Self-serving bias: people tend to credit their successes to disposition and their failures to the situation.

Common confusion: Situational attribution is not the same as external locus of control. Attribution is a judgment about the cause of one specific behavior. Locus of control is a general belief about whether one's own outcomes are governed by one's actions or by outside forces. Also, a situational attribution says where the cause lies, not whether it is accurate.