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Give the meaning of ‘causal attribution’. Explain fundamental attribution error and actor-observer effect with the help of an example.

Answer:

Ans.     Causal Attribution:

Attribution is a systematic process of assigning cause to a person’s behaviour.

It is the process of thinking and perceiving the causes of your own or others success and failure is an example of causal attribution.

We normally tend to believe that nothing happens in this world without a cause. There is always a cause of everything in the world.

Fritz Heider, who is credited as the ‘founder of attribution theory’, suggested that human beings function as naive scientists. Heider categorized all causes into two categories-internal and external.

Internal Causes: It includes something within the person, e.g., intelligence, aptitude or hot temper.

External Causes: These causes include anything outside the person, e.g., fate, resources.

Research work has shown that people attribute their success more too internal factors and failure more to external factors than vice-versa. Weiner added another dimension to causal attribution.

Stability: It refers to whether the cause is stable-it does not change over a long period (memory, family), or is instability-it may change over a short period of time (interest, luck).

Ability is both internal and stable; effort is internal and unstable; chance is both external and unstable. Weiner suggested that when you attribute your success to internal factors, you have a sense of pride. Also attributing success to stable factors gives you high expectations of success in future.

Fundamental Attribution Error:

In making attributions, there is an overall tendency to attribute internal cause’s more than external causes or situational factors for behaviours. This is called fundamental attribution error. This tendency varies from culture to culture. For examples, Indians tend to give more credit to external factors.

Actor-Observer Effect: A distinction is also found between the attributions that a person makes for one’s own positive or negative experiences (Actor Role) or for the positive or negative experiences of others (Observer Role).

For instance one of your classmates fell and got injured. You must have thought that he might be walking carelessly and attribute the responsibility for injury to him. Now the same thing happens to you. You would put the blame on the condition of the road or other factor. The tendency to blame external factors for our own behaviour and internal factors for others behaviour is known as fundamental attributional error.

When you hear that one of your relatives met an accident, a general tendency is to blame the injured person. People blame the person because it is assuring for them. If they are more vigilant, they will not meet such an accident. The blame is often placed on the people who are the sufferer. Even in the case of natural disasters, such as earthquakes, cyclones, floods, there is a pervasive belief that it is because of the sins, which people have committed. This phenomenon is known the blaming the victim.