PSYC 100 Chapter 5: SOCIAL PSYCH CHAPTER 5

• School: McGill University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 100
• Professor: Jens C Pruessner

Document Summary

Attribution theory the study of how people understand the causes of events. Causal attribution the construal process people use to explain both their own and other people"s behavior. In the research by peterson and seligman, the three dimensions form an overall explanatory style index, which is then correlated with and outcome variable of interest, such as a student"s gpa. A tendency to explain negative events in terms of internal, stable, and global causes is considered a pessimistic explanatory style, and it"s related to a variety of undesirable like outcomes. Making people believe that they can exert control over events that they formerly believed to be beyond their control restores hope and unleashes the kind of productive energy that makes future success more likely. Boys are more likely than girls to attribute their failures to lack of effort, and girls are more likely than boys to attribute their failures to lack of ability.