PSYC 1250 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Fritz Heider, Bernard Weiner, Fraternities And Sororities
19 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Attribution
Your guess as to why something has happened
•
The process by which we explain people's behaviour
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Fritz Heider
•
Internal states vs. external factors
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Internal traits: personality, attitudes, moods, abilities, effort, etc.
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External factors: actions of others, nature of situation, luck
When behaviour is unusual we are more likely to make attributions
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If the behaviour is distressing, you want to know why, to make attributions
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•
Bernard Weiner
Internal vs. external attributes
•
2 questions
Stability
Things you cant change, like how left-handed people get ink on their hand be
of how we have to write
§
○
Controllability
Traffic is not under your control, this may make you late but it was not contro
§
○
Internal
External
Stable
Unstable
Stable
Unstabl
Controllable
Typical Effort
Temporary effort
exerted for a
particular exam
Some forms of
teacher bias
Unusual
from oth
people
Uncontrollable
Ability, intellect
Mood
Exam difficulty
Luck
Some things are stable, yet uncontrollable
A small child is late for school every day, it is stable bc it happens all of the tim
it is uncontrollable bc he doesn’t drive himself to school
§
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•
Correspondent Inference Theory
According to Jones and Davis, you would try to infer from an overt action whether it
corresponds to a stable personal characteristic of the actor
•
Lecture 01/29
Monday, January 29, 2018
11:17 AM
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d because
ntrollable
table
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other
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e time, but
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corresponds to a stable personal characteristic of the actor
Rules of thumb in assessing action/behaviour
Social desirability of the behaviour
If something is not socially desirable, you are more likely to assess this behav
§
1.
Choice - actor's degree of choice
If you feel that the person did not have a choice you are less likely to look at th
person's disposition
§
2.
Noncommon effects
Principle of noncommon effects: to infer a person's disposition, you must loo
those aspects of the chosen behaviour that are different from other possible
behaviours
§
3.
Is there something particular about this behaviour that is unique in the outcome?
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•
Bill- The Weightlifter
Wants to work out, does he do it at the beach, in his backyard, in a field by a sorority
Fresh air
All
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Open Space
All
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Cushioned Work Area
All
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Privacy
Beach and backyard
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See Women
Only sorority
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Therefore, is Bill wants to work out in the field next the sorority, we could assume that he
some sort of female attention that he cannot get anywhere else. We could assume that h
motivation for working out is the attention of these women
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Kelley's Covariation Model
Covariation Principle- a principle of attribution theory stating that for something to be th
of a particular behaviour, it must be present when the behaviour occurs and absent when
does not occur. The presumed cause and observed effect must covary.
You can make a more definitive conclusion when there are less choices to choose fr
○
•
Discounting Principle-refers to a rule of attribution which states that the perceived role
cause will be discounted or reduced if other plausible causes are also present.
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Internal vs. External
Entity
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Circumstance
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•
Assessing Covariation
Consensus
1.
•
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Document Summary
Your guess as to why something has happened. The process by which we explain people"s behaviour. Internal traits: personality, attitudes, moods, abilities, effort, etc. External factors: actions of others, nature of situation, luck. When behaviour is unusual we are more likely to make attributions. If the behaviour is distressing, you want to know why, to make attributions. Things you cant change, like how left-handed people get ink on their hand be of how we have to write. Traffic is not under your control, this may make you late but it was not contro. A small child is late for school every day, it is stable bc it happens all of the tim it is uncontrollable bc he doesn"t drive himself to school. If something is not socially desirable, you are more likely to assess this behav. If you feel that the person did not have a choice you are less likely to look at th person"s disposition.
