The Theory of Attributions

Attributions are referred to as the causes of behaviour, and these can be viewed as dispositional or situational. Constructing attributions allows an understanding of others. This allows us to make judgments, which in turn allow us to form an impression of an individual, which will either promote or inhibit our interaction with that individual. Attribution is an important aspect of human behaviour, as it allows predications to be made with respect to forthcoming actions. Attribution explains human causal reasoning i.e. the idea that observed behaviour can be explained as being the result of a specific cause; there is an explanation or a reason behind all observed behaviour. Attribution theorists not only focus on the actual causes of behaviour, but also upon the perceived causes too.

The psychology discipline has conducted extensive research into attribution. Kelly and Michela (1980), reported over 900 attribution studies which were conducted in the 1970’s. There are many Attribution theories that aim to unravel the causes of human reasoning. The three main theories to be discussed in this essay are Heider (1958), Kelley (1967) and Jones and Davis (1956).

Attributions are referred to as the causes of behaviour; these can be viewed as dispositional or situational. The Construction of attributions allows an understanding of others. This also assists make judgments which in turn allow us to form an impression of an individual, which will either promote or inhibit our interaction with the individual. Attribution is an important aspect of human behaviour, as this allows a predication of forthcoming actions. Human causal reasoning is the idea that behaviour observed can be explained by a cause; there is an explanation or a re...

... middle of paper ...

...rey & Felman 1991;Wilkening &Lamsful 1993). Gigerenzer (1991) suggests humans use “tools” and methods similar to those used by scientists.

These theories have been useful as they have been used as a foundation to develop more current improved theories. Social Psychology continues to advance therefore the research needs to be updated to the society we live in. The traditional attribution theories can be useful to the modern world but do not necessarily apply to all cultures and individuals. Theories must be able to be generalizable to the majority therefore individual differences must be taken into account when developing new theories. Although the theorists have been criticised for being simplistic and out-dated the ideas are very influential. The ideas from these traditional theories continue to be used as a foundation for the forthcoming theories.