Attribution Theory and Social Psychology

Overview

Human beings are judgmental by nature, judging others and themselves.
We try to decode other people's behaviors and attribute them to causes (Attribution Theory).

Internal Causes (Dispositional Attribution): Personality, attitude, mood, motives, abilities (things they can control).
External Causes (Situational Attribution): Situational, environmental reasons (beyond their control).

Consensus: Is the behavior in line with the norm? Would others act similarly?
Distinctiveness: Does the person act similarly in other situations and with other people?
Consistency: Does the person act the same way if the situation occurs again?

High levels of consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency -> external factors

Low Consensus: Others are greeting one another.
Low Distinctiveness: John greets another person immediately after ignoring you.
Low Consistency: John usually says hello to you.

Outcome: Attributing behavior to John's personality, leading to rapid judgment without considering external circumstances.

Tendency to overemphasize internal causes to explain others' behavior, ignoring social or environmental factors.

Self-Serving Bias: Attributing our successes to personal characteristics and failures to external variables.
- E.g., attributing a raise to intelligence but blaming traffic for being reprimanded.
Actor Observer Bias: Attributing our actions to external causes and others' actions to internal causes.
- E.g., Slow driver = Idiot, Fast driver = Maniac.
Halo Effect: Letting a single trait influence perception of overall personality.
- E.g., A nice waitress = Gentle, caring person. A well-dressed salesperson = Smart, successful.

Step back before making judgments on others' personalities. Consider potential external causes for behavior.

Judging others should include understanding both internal and external influences.
Encourage further engagement and feedback for additional topics.

Thank you for listening!