UNIT 5: SOCIOCULTURAL LEVEL OF ANALYSISDay 2: Attribution – Situational/Dispositional Factors

Outcome(s):

Describe the role of situational and dispositional factors in explaining behavior.

Discuss two errors in attributions.

Agenda:

1. Reading Quiz2. Attribution Theory Notes/Situational &

Dispositional Organizer3. Attribution Theory Comic Strip4. Exit Ticket – Critical Thinking Activity

Pick up a notecard on your way in1. Put your name somewhere on the

notecard.2. Are you tired this morning? Why?3. Reflect on your current grades. Why are

your grades this way? Could you do better?

Attribution Theory

Attribution: how people interpret and explain casual relationships in the social world

E. Evans-Pritchard (1937)

Studying Azande people of central Africa Several people killed when a doorway

collapsed Azande attributed deaths to witchcraft Evans-Pritchard saw that doorway had

been eaten through by termites Azande people understood that, but

attributed the witchcraft to the fact that people were sitting in the doorway the moment it collapsed

Origins of Attribution Theory Fritz Heider, Psychology of Interpersonal Relationships (1958) When people try to understand behavior, they are acting like

“naïve psychologists” Actor-observer effect: people make inferences about intention

and responsibility – making an attribution about behavior on whether they are performing it or observing it

Situational factors: when people discuss their own behavior and attribute it to external factors Examples: Termites in Evans-Pritchard; person late to date because

he/she missed their train Dispositional factors: when people observe someone else’s

behavior and attribute it to something to do with personal (internal) factors Examples: The individuals from Evans-Pritchard study who were killed

were “out of line with ancestors”; person late to date because they are forgetful

Behavior

Situational Factors:when people discuss their own behavior and attribute it to external factors

Examples:• Termites in Evans-

Pritchard• Person late to date

because he/she missed their train

• Others?

Dispositional Factors:when people observe someone else’s behavior and attribute it to something to do with personal (internal) factors

Examples:• The individuals from

Evans-Pritchard study who were killed were “out of line with ancestors”

• Person late to date because they are forgetful

• Others?

Error 1:

Error 2:

Errors in Attributions

People are more likely to explain another person’s actions by pointing to dispositional factors rather than the situation

Two errors: 1. Fundamental attribution errors2. Self-serving bias (SSB)

Behavior

Situational Factors:when people discuss their own behavior and attribute it to external factors

Examples:• Termites in Evans-

Pritchard• Person late to date

because he/she missed their train

• Others?

Dispositional Factors:when people observe someone else’s behavior and attribute it to something to do with personal (internal) factors

Examples:• The individuals from

Evans-Pritchard study who were killed were “out of line with ancestors”

• Person late to date because they are forgetful

• Others?

Error 1: Fundamental Attribution Errors

Error 2:Self-Serving Bias (SSB)

Error #1: Fundamental Attribution Error

Definition: when people overestimate the role of dispositional factors in an individual’s behaviors and underestimate the situational factors

Example: watching an actor play several roles as a kind, loving person then when asked to describe them, you explain that they are kind and loving – you attribute these characteristics to his personality (dispositional) and not to the fact that he auditions for and was given these roles in the films (situational)

Psychologists argue that fundamental attribution error is so common people think of themselves as adaptable, flexible – not a “type” of person; but when a person does not have enough information about them to make a decision, they attribute behavior to disposition

Error #1: Fundamental Attribution Error

Culture and fundamental attribution error: placing the blame on the individual is common practice in western culture Example: people are more likely to say a murderer is evil than to

refer to environmental factors as explanations Ross et al. (1977)

See if student participants would make the fundamental attribution error even when they knew all actors were playing a role (game show host, contestants, audience members)

When the show as over, observers ranked the intelligence of people who had taken part

Ranked host as most intelligent, even though they knew positions were randomly assigned

Failed to attribute the role to the person’s situation Concerns: same is problematic (University students, accustomed to

listening to professors who are seen as authority figures as they ask/give answers); student samples are not representative of the greater population therefore generalizability is questionable

Error #2: Self-Serving Bias (SSB)

When people take credit for their successes, attributing them to dispositional factors and dissociate themselves form failures, attributing them to situational factors

Lau and Russel (1980) Found that American football coaches tend to credit

wins to internal factors (good shape, hard work, talent) but failures to external factors (injuries, weather, other team’s fouls)

Greenberg et al. Argue the reason we do this is to protect our self-esteem

(attribute failure to factors beyond own control; a means of self-protection)

Error #2: Self-Serving Bias (SSB)

Miller and Ross (1975) Cognitive factors play a role in self-serving bias We usually expect to succeed

If we expect and do, we attribute success to our skill and ability

If we expect and do not, we attribute failure to bad luck or external factors

This is commonly observed in people in the western world – but this is not an exception People who are severely depressed tend to make

more dispositional attributions thus blaming self for feeling miserable

Error #2: Self-Serving Bias (SSB)

Kashima and Triandis (1986) Cultural differences in self-serving bias Experiment; partiipcants: US and Japanese students Instructed to remember details of slides of scenes from

unfamiliar countries When sked to explain performance, Americans attributed

success to ability whereas Japanese tended to explain failures in lack of ability – this is called modesty bias

Findings: Cultural differences found between US and Japanese students Modesty bias

Chandler et al. (1990) and Watkings and Regmi (1990) found this to be the same

Role of culture is pivotal in understanding modesty bias Bond, Lueng, and Wan (1982) found that Chinese students who exhibited

modesty bias instead of SSB more popular with their peers (if people derive self-esteem not form individual accomplishment but from group identity, they are less likely to use the SSB)