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The defensive attribution hypothesis (or bias, theory, or simply defensive attribution) is a social psychological term where an observer attributes the causes for a mishap to minimize their fear of being a victim or a cause in a similar situation.
Defensive Attribution Theory aims at describing how an individual ultimately wants to explain behavior in a way that protects their ego and is flattering to the self. [4]: 213–235 Attributions are deemed as biased because an individual, in explaining behavior, will "take credit for good outcomes and avoid responsibility for the bad".
Attribution theory also provides explanations for why different people can interpret the same event in different ways and what factors contribute to attribution biases. [ 10 ] Psychologist Fritz Heider first discussed attributions in his 1958 book, The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations . [ 1 ]
Attribution theory is the original parent theory with Harold Kelley's covariation model and Bernard Weiner's three-dimensional model branching from Attribution theory. Attribution theory also influenced several other theories as well such as Heider's Perceived Locus of Causality which eventually led to Deci and Ryan's Theory of Self-determination.
Attribution (psychology) – Process by which individuals explain causes of behavior and events; Black swan theory – Theory of response to surprise events; Chronostasis – Distortion in the perception of time; Cognitive distortion – Exaggerated or irrational thought pattern; Defence mechanism – Unconscious psychological mechanism
Functional attitude theory (FAT) suggests that beliefs and attitudes are influential to various psychological functions. Attitudes can be influential on many processes such as being utilitarian (useful), social, relating to values, or a reduction of cognitive dissonance .
Unlike pessimism, defensive pessimism is not an internal, global, and stable attribution style, but rather a cognitive strategy utilized within the context of certain goals. [3] Pessimism involves rumination about possible negative outcomes of a situation without proactive behavior to counteract these outcomes.
Since situations are undeniably complex and are of different "strengths", this will interact with an individual's disposition and determine what kind of attribution is made; although some amount of attribution can consistently be allocated to disposition, the way in which this is balanced with situational attribution will be dependent on the ...