Understanding Attribution Theory: Influence of Internal & External Factors on Behavior, Exercises of Environmental Psychology

Download Understanding Attribution Theory: Influence of Internal & External Factors on Behavior and more Exercises Environmental Psychology in PDF only on Docsity! Environmental Psychology (PSY-511) VU ©copyright Virtual University of Pakistan 79 Lesson 29 ATTRIBUTING BEHAVIOR TO PERSONS AND SITUATIONS Asch’s Experiment on Conformity Subjects were asked to judge line lengths while working in a group. 7 subjects; the 6th was real, rest were confederates. Confederates consistently gave obviously wrong answers The subject often conformed and gave the same wrong answer On average, 37% of participants conformed. Attribution Theory The theory is concerned with the ways in which people explain (or attribute) the behavior of others or themselves (self-attribution) with something else. It explores how individuals "attribute" causes to events and how this cognitive perception affects their usefulness in an organization. Attribution theory has been developed to explain how we judge people differently depending on the meaning we attribute to a given behavior. By observing behavior, we attempt to determine whether the behavior is internally or externally caused. When we observe people, we attempt to develop explanations of why people behave in certain ways. Our perceptions and judgments will be significantly influenced by the assumptions we make about the person’s internal state. This is the field of attribution theory. Fundamental Attribution Error Underestimating the influence of external factors and overestimating the influence of internal factors. For example, assuming that the person is late all the time because she or he isn’t interested in the work rather than finding out that the shift starts when the parking is totally full. Self Serving Bias • Attributing success to internal factors and failure to external factors is called self-serving bias. Internally VS Externally Caused Behaviors We believe that internally caused behaviors are under an individual’s control; externally caused behaviors are motivated by external forces. How we determine the source of behavior: It is determined by three factors: – Distinctiveness – Consensus Fundamental  Attribution  Error   (Failure: internal  factors)  Self‐serving Bias   (Success‐ external  factors)  docsity.com