PSY 223 1st Edition Lecture 8 Outline of Last Lecture I Understanding and Perceiving Others II Snap Judgments III Halo effect of physical attractiveness IV Nonverbal communication Outline of Current Lecture II Attributions A Fritz Heider theory B Jones Correspondent Inference Theory C Harold Kelley s Covariation Theory III Fundamental Attribution Error IV Actor Observer Differences V Motivational Biases and Influences on Attributions VI Self esteem and Influences on Attributions VII Culture and Attribution Bias Current Lecture Attributions Attribution is when you try to determine the cause of something We try to understand others and predict their future behaviors Ask why for something unusual like if someone stood up in class and screamed a profanity Wonder why they just did that and we do this because we want to predict Fritz Heider We are all amateur scientists who try to understand others We make either an internal personal attribution or an external situational attribution Personal making attribution about the person did that because they are weird These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute External blame it on the environment situation did that because a bee just stung them o We make internal attributions more than external Jones Correspondent Inference Theory Wants to know when we make internal attributions Internal attributions more common when It appears that the person feely choose their behavior no internal or external award for doing behavior The behavior is unexpected goes against the norm When the behavior results in a small number of unique desirable outcomes Harold Kelley s Covariation Theory Focuses on how people decide whether to make an internal or external attribution Applies to multiple observations of behavior often across time and situations Theory says that what is critical is a covariation principle in order for something to be the cause of a behavior it must be present when the behavior occurs and absent when it does not 3 types Consensus what most people would do in the situation Ex Someone comes out of movie theatre and raves about film Do you make attribution that the movie is the reason external and the person is an excited person internal Distinctiveness what the individual does in other situations Ex Ask them about that specific movie external or see what they do after other movies internal Consistency what individual does in a given situation on different occasions Ex Have them watch same movie weeks later and see reaction this is why although covariation theory is helpful it is unrealistic because can t get all this information every single time When consensus distinctiveness and consistency high then then type of attribution is external When opposite all are low then is it internal The Fundamental Attribution Error FAE People are more likely to make internal than external attributions for others behaviors First identified by Ross 1977 Explanation for F A E Perceptual salience often attribute things to what appears to be most obvious cause the personal is more salient than the context forget person was randomly assigned to answer trivia questions when you think of them as dumb Automatic Cognitive Processing dispositional attributions are often made automatically Situational attributions require more cognitive thought 2 step attribution process Gilbert Malone 1995 Step 1 Internal attribution made automatically Step 2 Adjust by taking into account the situation this takes effort Actor Observer Differences The actor s tendency is to explain behavior as due to the situation The observer s tendency is to explain behavior as due to the dispositional qualities of the actor FAE Is also due to perceptual salience and lack of information about another s situation Motivational Biases and Influences on Attributions Motivational Biases the ways in which our personal needs wishes and preferences alter the way we make attributions and perceive situations Ex Think other person s fault in car accident because you don t want to think that you did it Wishful Seeing people have a tendency to see what they want to see Original study not done very well because methodology was plagued with confounds Contemporary researchers have returned to the concept with improved methods Ex Thirsty student perceived water bottle on table close than quenched students Self esteem affects how we make attributions as well Use external attribution to say why we did poorly on test roommate kept us up but the internal attribution when we do well I m so smart The False Consensus Effect applies here We assume that others share our beliefs and values can affect behaviors as well so when outside the norm we apply internal attributions We are more likely to favor people who are similar to us so apply external attributions for them instead of internal Ideological motives affect our attributions of others Also we view the world as a just place We view the world as a place where we get what we deserve If we can t help a victim we tent to blame them to preserve this view think rape victims o This helps us cope with stress and affirms the belief that our investments will be rewarded o The more threatened we feel by a situation the more likely we are to blame the victim Other biases and influences on attribution The influence of imagined outcomes people s attributions are influence not only by what happened but also by what almost happened or could have happened Counterfactual thoughts thoughts about what might have or could have happened Culture and Attribution Bias Collectivistic cultures may be more attuned to contextual factors less likely to commit fundamental attribution error They usually use external attributions rather than internal