Attribution Theory: An Overview
Attribution theory is a psychological concept that attempts to explain how people make sense of their social environment by attributing cause and effect to their experiences. This theory is based on the idea that people are constantly looking for cause and effect relationships in their environment and that they attempt to attribute the cause of a particular event or behavior to a particular source. By doing so, people can gain a better understanding of their environment and their place in it. The goal of attribution theory is to explain how people make attributions of cause and effect in social situations and how they use these attributions to make sense of their experiences.
Attribution theory was originally developed by Fritz Heider in the 1950s. He proposed that people attribute behavior to either internal or external causes. Internal attributions refer to causes within an individual, such as personality traits or abilities. External attributions refer to causes outside of the individual, such as environmental influences or the behavior of other people. Heider suggested that people are more likely to make internal attributions if they believe the cause to be within their control, while they are more likely to make external attributions if they believe the cause to be outside of their control.
Since its inception, attribution theory has been further developed and expanded upon by numerous scholars. One of the most influential theorists in the field is Julian Rotter, who proposed the concept of locus of control. This concept suggests that people are more likely to make attributions based on their beliefs about the controllability of an event. If they believe an event is controllable, they are more likely to make an internal attribution. If they believe an event is not controllable, they are more likely to make an external attribution.
Attribution theory has been used in a variety of contexts, including education, marketing, and organizational behavior. In the field of education, attribution theory has been used to explain how students perceive their academic performance and how they respond to success and failure in the classroom. In the field of marketing, attribution theory has been used to explain how consumers make sense of their product experiences and how they attribute cause and effect to their purchases. In the field of organizational behavior, attribution theory has been used to explain how employees make sense of their work environment and how they attribute cause and effect to their job experiences.
Overall, attribution theory is an important psychological concept that helps to explain how people make sense of their social environment. By understanding how people make attributions of cause and effect, researchers and practitioners can better understand how people interpret their experiences and how they make decisions in their lives.
References
Heider, F. (1958). The psychology of interpersonal relations. New York, NY: Wiley.
Rotter, J. B. (1966). Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 80(1), 1-28.
Weiner, B. (1986). An attributional theory of motivation and emotion. New York, NY: Springer-Verlag.
Kelley, H. H. (1967). Attribution theory in social psychology. In D. Levine (Ed.), Nebraska symposium on motivation (pp. 192-238). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
Petty, R. E., & Cacioppo, J. T. (1986). The elaboration likelihood model of persuasion. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 19, pp. 123-205). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.