Dispositional and Situational Factors
Social life is complex. People
need a great deal of historical, cultural, and bio- graphical information if
they are to accurately pinpoint the cause of even the most routine happenings.
Still, most people form judgments about cause, and take action, without
complete information. Attribution theoryexamines the process by which people
explain their behavior and that of others. Specifically, people attribute cause
to one of two factors: (1) dispositional or (2) situational.
Dispositional
factorsare things that people are believed to control, including personal
qualities related to motivation, interest, mood, and effort. Situational
factorsare things believed to be outside a person’s control—such as the
weather, bad luck, and another’s incompetence. Usually people stress
situational factors in explaining their own failures. With regard to others’
failures, people tend to emphasize dispositional factors.
No comments:
Post a Comment