Kara gets an on her social psychology exam. Then she goes home and gets into an argument with her roommate, Lee. Lee assumes Kara is yelling at him because she likes to bully him, not because she had a bad day. Lee is making a
situational attribution
dispositional attribution
self-serving attribution
central attribution
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
Correct Answer: Dispositional Attribution
Lee is making a dispositional attribution, which means he is attributing Kara’s behavior to her personality or character rather than to the situation she just experienced.
Explanation:
Attribution theory in social psychology explains how individuals interpret and assign causes to behavior—either their own or others’. There are two main types of attribution:
- Situational Attribution: This occurs when someone explains behavior by pointing to external factors, such as the environment or context. For example, if Lee thought Kara was yelling because she had a bad day or failed an exam, that would be a situational attribution.
- Dispositional Attribution: This occurs when behavior is explained based on internal traits or personality characteristics. In this scenario, Lee assumes Kara is yelling because she “likes to bully him.” That means he is attributing her behavior to a negative personality trait (being a bully), rather than considering her stressful day. This is a classic example of dispositional attribution.
This type of thinking is common in social interactions and can lead to misunderstandings and conflict. One notable cognitive bias related to this is the fundamental attribution error—the tendency for people to overemphasize dispositional factors and underestimate situational ones when explaining others’ behaviors. In this case, Lee commits this error by ignoring Kara’s potential stress and focusing instead on her presumed character flaws.
Two other options are important to understand:
- Self-Serving Attribution: This is when people attribute their own successes to internal factors and failures to external ones (e.g., “I aced the test because I’m smart,” vs. “I failed because the teacher is unfair”).
- Central Attribution is not a standard term used in attribution theory.
By recognizing the type of attribution being made, we can become more empathetic and avoid jumping to conclusions about others’ behavior. Lee might have avoided conflict by considering the possibility of situational stress affecting Kara’s mood.