Attribution Psychology

One disappointing result can be explained in many ways. You might think, “I used the wrong strategy this time,” “I am simply not good at this,” “The conditions were unusually difficult,” or “Nothing ever works out for me.” Each sentence points to a cause, but they do more than explain one event. When similar explanations … Read more

A team misses an important deadline. One explanation points inward: someone planned poorly, underestimated the work, or did not put in enough effort. Another points outward: the brief changed, a supplier failed, or the available time was unrealistic. Both explanations may sound plausible, and both may contain part of the truth. That is the central … Read more

A coworker misses an important deadline. A friend suddenly becomes quiet at dinner. A student performs much better on one exam than the last. In each case, the visible event is only the beginning. Almost immediately, the mind asks a second question: Why did that happen? Attribution theory examines how people answer that question. It … Read more

A coworker misses a deadline. One person thinks, “They are careless.” Another thinks, “They were given too much work.” A third wonders whether the instructions were unclear. The event is the same, but the explanations are not. That gap between what happened and why we think it happened is the territory of attribution psychology. Attributions … Read more