"We can never judge the actions of others, because each person knows only their own pain and renunciation.”
~Paulo Coelho
1930:
He was offered a research position at Clarke School for the Deaf in Massachusetts, and an assistant position teaching at Smith College.
His theories on interpersonal relations started "The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations"
- Attributing the cause of an event or the meaning of a circumstance to an individuals personality, character, traits etc.
- This is normally the preferred attribution when viewing an event from the outside. (i.e. others making mistakes)
- According to Attribution Theory, if we do not know the situation, human nature is to default to Internal attribution
- Attributing the cause of an event or the meaning of a circumstance to an outside circumstances, uncontrollable factors, the environment etc.
- This is normally the preferred attribution when viewing an event from the inside. (i.e. we make a mistake)
- According to Attribution Theory, when we make a mistake, it is human nature to blame it on the environment.
We will often times blame the victims of unfortunate events for their fate claiming that it was due to their own error (internal attribution) while in the same situation we ourselves would blame environmental factors for our misfortune (external attribution).
How Attribution Theory Applies to communication.....
While all these points are valid, this can lead to stressful interpersonal communication situations if one party believes the other is personally responsible for an unfortunate situation.
You and your friend are planning to go see a midnight premier of a movie. Parking is going to be limited and the theater is an hour away, so your friend offers to pick you up for the movie at 9. Time passes and eventually 945 comes around and your friend still isn't here and they haven't called or texted. You begin to remember past instances where your friend has been late before and this has seemed to become a recurring pattern recently. As a result you attribute this event to the fact that your friend must really not care about being late, and see this as a character flaw. This will later put stress in your friendship and make interpersonal communication more difficult.
Now look at the case study from a new perspective...
Case Study
You and your friend decided to meet for a movie, in order to save gas you offered to pick them up at 9. Everything was going great until around 700 when you were about to leave your new job and your supervisor asks you to stay later again because the person in the shift after you has to take his mother to the hospital for the third time this week. You left your phone in the car and there's no way you can step out "for just a second" because Friday nights are always really busy at the ice skating rink. A few skate sessions later and an emergency replacement has come in. You run out the door and see it is 946. You really hope your friend understands....emergencies come up and there was nothing you could do.
Now that you saw the video clip, please describe your interpretation of what was happening
Attribution Theory
The Theory of Social Judgment
Austrian- American Psychologist
Developed the concept of the Attribution Theory
He received his Ph.D. in 1920 at the University
of Graz in Austria.
when an event occurs we *Attribute* the cause of the event to:
Attribution follows a 3 Step process
What exactly is
Attribution Theory?
Internal V.S. External Attribution
Internal Attribution
External Attribution
ATTRIBUTION THEORY *IN A NUTSHELL*
"So? If It's good, It's Mister Coffee.
If It's bad, It's me"
Attribution Theory is just
"Common Sense Psychology"
- We can only make judgments about an event based on what we know about the situation
- If the person is a stranger or we do not know the situation, we are bound to assume the person is at fault
- When we are involved in an event, we are more likely to attribute the situation to the environment because we are more aware of what other circumstances are going on
How To Avoid Attribution Error
- Be careful when jumping to conclusions and blaming others. Try to see the entire situation from their point of view including environmental factors
- Try to avoid making excuses for yourself and always claiming external factors as reasons for your misfortune
- Avoid or handle carefully conversations where the other party is using incorrect attributions (for themselves or against you)
Application
Now For A Demonstration...
- Please pay attention to the following video
- Try to follow the events and remember what happens
- Try not to discuss your observations