situational attribution

Meaning: In attribution theory, people explain behavior by assigning a cause. Situational (external) attribution places the cause in the environment: the task's difficulty, social pressure, weather, luck, or the actions of other people. The contrast is dispositional (internal) attribution, which places the cause in the person's traits, abilities, motives, or attitudes. Example: a classmate arrives late and you conclude that traffic was terrible (situational) instead of concluding that she is irresponsible (dispositional).

On the MCAT: Passages describe an observer explaining someone's behavior, and you identify the type of attribution or the bias involved. Expect these patterns. The fundamental attribution error is the tendency of observers to overemphasize dispositional causes and underemphasize situational ones when judging other people. The actor-observer bias is the tendency to attribute your own behavior to the situation but others' behavior to disposition. The self-serving bias is the tendency to credit your successes to disposition and blame your failures on the situation. Kelley's covariation ideas (consistency, distinctiveness, consensus) predict that high distinctiveness and high consensus with an event point toward a situational cause.

Common confusion: Situational attribution is not the same as making an excuse or being wrong. It is simply a claim about where the cause lies, and it can be accurate. Also, it does not mean "the situation always wins": the biases describe common tendencies, not rules without exceptions.