PSYC 215 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Fundamental Attribution Error, Explanatory Style, Dispositional Attribution

• School: McGill University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 215
• Professor: John Lydon

Document Summary

We tend to place causal attribution to the properties of the actor, especially distinctive ones like. Bill gates instead of what has occurred to him. The actor is more inclined to view it as a situational force that got him to where he is. Attribution theory: theoretical accounts as to how people assign causes to the events around them and the effects that people"s casual assessments have. Causal attribution: process people use to explain both their own and other"s behaviour through linking an event to a cause like asserting that a personality trait is the cause for behaviour. Etc. etc. we don"t necessarily take things at face value but delve into causal attribution. Explanatory style: the habitual way a person explains events. Assessed along 3 dimensions: internal/external; stable/unstable; global/ specific. Internal vs. external: whether you blame yourself or your situation. Stable vs. unstable: whether the cause will stay this way forever or change.