Understanding Attribution Theory: Internal vs External Causes

Why do we fault a person because of an error and at other times fault the situation? This is the question that the attribution theory revolves around. It is a psychological model, which describes how people explain behaviour and attribute causes of behaviour either internal or external. Knowledge on the attribution theory can be used to describe the daily human judgement, scholars and in workplaces.

What is the Attribution Theory?

What is the attribution theory then? Attribution theory in simple terms can be referred to as the study of the explanations of the causes of behaviour and events by people. It is concerned with whether acts are dependent upon internal, such as personality and effort, or external, such as environment and luck, determinants.

Originally, the theory was proposed by Fritz Heider who called people naive psychologists attempting to comprehend behaviour. Subsequently, Harold Kelley and Bernard Weiner broadened the idea, which became a central component of the psychology of attribution theory.

Types of Attribution

There are two primary types of explanations according to the attribution theory:

• Internal Attribution: Behaviour is attributed to some personal characteristics such as ability, effort or personality.

• External Attribution: It is the situational factors that explain behaviour including pressure, environment, or luck.

These types assist in understanding the difference in perceptions of actions by people in different circumstances.

The major models of Attribution theory.

• Naive Psychology by Heider: Implicates individuals with inherent categories of internal and external behaviour, which he refers to as the foundation of attribution theory.

• Model of Consensus, consistency and distinctiveness: Kelley Covariation Model: Consensus, consistency and distinctiveness are used to analyse behaviour rationally.

• Weiners Attribution Model: An emphasis on locus, stability and controllability, is popular in education and motivation research.

These models reinforce the psychology of attribution theory through providing systematic means to comprehend behaviour.

Attribution Biases

Biases tend to affect human judgement:

• Fundamental Attribution Error: Excessively focusing on attributes of the person without paying attention to the situation.

• Self-Serving Bias: Blaming success and failure on internal and external causes respectively.

• Actor-Observer Bias: Interpreting oneself situationally and evaluating others in terms of personality.

These prejudices demonstrate that attribution is not necessarily objective.

Attribution Theory Examples

The examples of attribution theory can help to understand the concept better:

• When an employee tries to do his work, the manager assumes that he is lazy rather than taking into account his work pressure.

• Failure in an exam is blamed by a student as opposed to failure to prepare.

• A client concludes that the staff is not serving well but the system has a problem.

These demonstrations of the attribution theory bring to the fore the daily judgements that are made under the influence of perception. Have questions about the use of the attribution theory of psychology in assignments? Seek professional assignment help, assignment help online and advice of an assignment helper US at Locus Assignments.

Attribution Theory uses.

The attribution theory finds its application in many areas:

• Education: Helps learn about student motivation and performance.

• Organisational Behaviour: Enhances evaluation and communication among employees.

• Psychology: Aids understanding of behaviour and counselling.

• Marketing: describes how consumers make decisions.

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The positive sides of the Attribution Theory.

• Describes human behaviour in a logical way.

• Improves interpersonal understanding

• Supports better decision-making

• Enhances communication

Weaknesses of Attribution Theory.

Biased and subjective.

Affected by cultural variations.

Oversimplifies complex behaviour

Limited predictive accuracy

Conclusion

The attribution theory is important in understanding the interpretation of actions and attributing meaning to them. The knowledge of what is attribution theory can help individuals minimise bias and become better at making judgements.

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