January 26th, 2000

 

 

Perceiving Individuals -- Attribution

 

Behavior                                   à                                Trait

e.g., See somebody…              Assume they are….

solve hard math prob                à                                intelligent

working hard                            à                                hard working

attacking you with a spear         à                               aggressive

 

 

In these cases, the behavior has very clear trait inferences. We make these inferences automatically when they are this clear.

 

But, not all behaviors are this clear cut. Some have multiple causes.

 

e.g., Student compliments her professor. Why?

(1)   She likes his teaching à grateful

(2)   She wants a good grade à manipulative

(3)   She compliments everybody à weird

 

Attribution Theory: Started back in the late 50’s by Fritz Heider. He came up with the idea of Naïve psychology. He made a very important distinction (one that Lewin had already made):

 

                                                            Behavior

 

                                         Internal                                External

                                         Person                                 environment

                                         Traits                                   situation

                                         Abilities                                norms

 

Essentially,  a person’s behavior can be seen as being caused by internal characteristics or external characteristics (remember: B = f(P, E))

 

Discounting principle: to the extent that the behavior is caused by 1 factor, we discount other factors. E.g., Think that a person acts a certain way because it is the way they are (i.e., Internal), then don’t consider external factors.

 

Both of the big attribution theories follow from this principle.

 

Correspondent Inference Theory (Jones & Davis):

(The book presents a different Principle 1 – Dr. Carlston does not agree with it).

 

Principle 1: you learn more about somebody from their unusual behaviors

e.g., Student asks the professor a question as she is leaving class à this is uninformative because it is not unusual.

 

e.g., Student tells the professor that his tie goes well with his bald head à  this is informative because it is unusual.

 

Unusual behaviors lead to more inferences.

 

Usual behaviors typically have situational or environmental explanations (e.g., social norms).

 

Principle 2:  You can infer the trait responsible for a behavior from the unique effects of that behavior.

 

e.g.,

 

(A)       Student compliments instructor à        Professor gives her a hug

                                                                                    Professor gives her a lecture

                                                                                    Professor gives her an A

(B)       Student doesn’t compliment instructor à          Professor gives her a hug

                                                                                    Professor gives her a lecture

                                                                                    Professor gives her a C

            What is unique? Getting a different grade so assume student complimented instructor in order to get a better grade.

 

 

e.g.,  Why did the butler poison the heiress?

            Not a good cook          à        incompetent

            She was a nasty lady     à        resentful

            Large inheritance          à        greedy

            Liked to hear people say

“ The butler did it”        à        weird

 

If all are there, then there are too many unique effects. Not going to assume anything.

 

 

Kelly’s Covariation Theory

 

Principle: The cause of a behavior is usually present when the behavior happens and absent when it does not.

 

            Hi Consensus

Everyone compliments the instructor (i.e., he is always present) à the behavior reflects on the professor (i.e., the environment).

 

Lo Distinctiveness

She compliments everyone (i.e., she is always present) à the behavior reflects on the student (i.e., the actor)

 

Hi Consistency

If it happens all or most of the time, the behavior reflects a lot.

 

SEE TABLE 3.1 IN THE BOOK!!!

 

 

Mac Arthur found that people tend to ignore consensus information. Why? 

 

e.g., obedience studies. Even when tell people that participants are shocking others because they are told to, still make attributions about the person (person doing the shocking). Thus, make person attribution, not situation attribution in a situation of hi consensus.

 

When have self as a standard à don’t rely on consensus information. People ignore how other people may act because prefer to trust our own behavior as the standard.

 

Correspondence Theory: Tendency to make trait attributions even in situations where there is an obvious external cause for the behavior.

 

e.g., Patty Hearst (clearly brainwashed during bank robbery – still found guilty).  People’s behavior is believed to reflect their traits.

 

 

Do attributions (1st impressions) have long term effects? YES.  WHY?

 

(1)   You tend to interpret anything you encounter later in terms of your 1st impressions.

(2)   You tend to think of other evidence in terms of 1st impressions.

(3)   You treat people in a manner consistent with 1st impressions. This evokes the kind of behavior you expected (self-fulfilling prophesy).

(4)   You may communicate your impression to others (or self), making it more memorable and committing yourself to it.