Monday, February 20, 2012

Errors of Attribution

To what do you attribute your success?  If you win an athletic contest or perform really well on the SAT, was your success due to your dispositional characteristics or simply to something outside your control, such as luck?  How about the success of your rival?  We all have tendencies to attribute behavior to one cause or another but how often to we make errors in our judgment?  Studies tell us that it depends on the culture from which you come.

Answer the following questions that relate to attribution styles and errors as well as cultural differences:
The following links may be of some help but feel free to use your textbook and other resources.
http://psych.wisc.edu/Miyamoto/CACL/Miyamoto%20&%20Kitayama%2002.pdf
http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/81/5/922/ )

1. What is the difference between dispositional factors and situational factors?
2. Explain and give an example of the fundamental error of attribution.
3. Explain and give an example of the self-serving-bias error of attribution.
4. Explain two possible explanations for these errors.
5. What does the study by Miyamoto and Kitayama tell us about cultural differences in attribution errors?

Now, read this short article: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/fulfillment-any-age/201005/excuses-excuses-excuses-why-people-lie-cheat-and-procrastinate and write a two paragraph essay explaining the role of attribution errors in things such as cheating and lying.

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