...Attribution Theory is concerned with the ways in which people perceive and think about the behaviors of themselves or others, exploring how people attempt to make inferences about the causes of observed behavior. The tendency to overestimate the role of personal factors while underestimating the impact of situational factors when attempting to understand or explain the behavior or others is referred to as Fundamental Attribution Error (e.g., a person cuts me off and I immediately assume they are a jerk without considering situational factors, such as disruptive children or car problems). While the focus is more on personal attributions when explaining the behavior of others, we are more likely to make situational attributions when explaining our own behavior (referred to as the Actor-Observer Effect). While the actor-observer effect tends to hold true when explaining personal failures, successful behaviors usually lead to a Self-serving bias, whereby one is more likely to make dispositional (personal) rather than situational attributions. The 3 original and 2 additional dimensions to Weiner's taxonomy in his Attributional Theory of Motivation and Emotion are as follows: Original: internal/external, stable/unstable,...
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...a concept that deals with the upbringing of people. Fundamental attribution error deals with why people sometimes think differently. Lastly the concept of defense mechanisms has to do with the way people cope with events in their life. Nature vs nurture is an ongoing concept being discussed in the psychological community. It is an ongoing debate on whether nature or nurture is what causes a person to act and behave how they do. The nature part of this concept refers to the genes passes from parent to child. The nurture part of the concept refers to the environment the people are exposed to at early ages. A good example of this concept being applied is with homosexuality. People who support the nature side of the argument believe homosexuality is something passed on through genes. People who...
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...Lynise Harris February 19,2015 Soc. Psyc Seven Floors The story Seven Floors by Dino Buzzati, Focused on a lawyer named Giovanni Corte stay at a well known nursing home for what was described as a slight sickness. Mr. Corte arrived at the hospital for treatment for early stages of is unknown sickness with hopes of getting better. His first impression of the place seemed to be to his liking, Givoni was pleased with the appearance of the nice rooms, attractive nurses and even interested in the knowledgeable doctors. Shortly after arriving at the sanatorium he found out the placing of the patients depended on their health state. This new information caused him to become obsessed with his placement and eventually began to effect his health. The concept that become clear while reading was that negative thinking will produce a negative effect. A concept can be used to help understand the main purpose of something or to help explain it. An example of a concept in the story that stood out was the hindsight bias. The hindsight bias is the tendency to exaggerate after learning an outcome. On page 4 in the beginning of the third paragraph, Givoni was asked to move to a different room due to a mother needing to be near her children and he graciously agreed. After agreeing the head nurse stated, “ such courageous act doesn’t surprise me coming from a person like yourself.” The nurse acted as though he expected Givoni to say yes but only knew this after the fact. The way the...
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...As we can see from the examples in the text, we can analyze the fact that attribution plays a big part in social interaction and personal perception. We can evaluate that the two examples of college students meeting their advisors is a scene where situations and dispositions can be altered with some simple explanation. Example one showed negative situational attribution, dispositional attribution and self-schema. But the similarity about both examples where the fact that they both displayed fundamental attribution errors where there is over-attribution to dispositional factors and the under-attribution to situational factors. Negative situational attribution was demonstrated when Jessica made an appointment with Dr. Smith but since she was running late, she was only able to do last-minute checkups. As well as Jessica displayed negative dispositional attribution by thinking Dr. Smith “cared too little for her students to allow enough time to meet every student for the time they needed”. Dr. Smith showed a self-schemas view of himself, where self-schemas are structures that organize one’s thoughts, quality, and expectations regarding the self, by making a point about “she was a good advisor and prided herself on that fact. However, as we can see from the example two, we can identify that both shares common factors but they were opposite in many ways. When Jonathan knew about the fact that his advisor was running late, he tried his best to hide it because he knew that Dr. Jones...
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...Analysis for Case 2 Jensen Shoes: Lyndon Brooks’ Story Are self-evaluations being hurt? Yes. This case gives us indications that Lyndon had negative core self-evaluations which are explained below: a. Self-esteem: Although not happy with this first assignment he decided to take it up so that it helped him broaden his background and move up in job roles by showing credibility. But he could not complete all his assignments in time. He was later told by Chuck that he would be moved to Strategic Product Marketing and would be reporting to Jane Kravitz as part of reorganizing. Lyndon took this change as the effect of his under-performance and had a feeling of being demoted. This looked like it hit his self-esteem as it gave him feeling of failing in his work and now he had to report to Jane while he himself was in line management before. b. Self-efficacy: In his first project he did believe in his capabilities to take on the project, but when he could not complete it, his work was not well appreciated by Chuck and was also moved to another project. This demotivated him and let him down. He thought he had failed. When he was again assigned the same market in his 2nd project he thought he will fail again in this project and his lack of knowledge of this market will add into the issue. He now did not have confidence in his capabilities and wanted to remain in his comfort zone of line management. c. Locus of control: He seems to display external locus of control as he believed...
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...Analysis for Case Jensen Shoes: Lyndon Brooks’ Story Are self-evaluations being hurt? Yes. This case gives us indications that Lyndon had negative core self-evaluations which are explained below: a. Self-esteem: Although not happy with this first assignment he decided to take it up so that it helped him broaden his background and move up in job roles by showing credibility. But he could not complete all his assignments in time. He was later told by Chuck that he would be moved to Strategic Product Marketing and would be reporting to Jane Kravitz as part of reorganizing. Lyndon took this change as the effect of his under-performance and had a feeling of being demoted. This looked like it hit his self-esteem as it gave him feeling of failing in his work and now he had to report to Jane while he himself was in line management before. b. Self-efficacy: In his first project he did believe in his capabilities to take on the project, but when he could not complete it, his work was not well appreciated by Chuck and was also moved to another project. This demotivated him and let him down. He thought he had failed. When he was again assigned the same market in his 2nd project he thought he will fail again in this project and his lack of knowledge of this market will add into the issue. He now did not have confidence in his capabilities and wanted to remain in his comfort zone of line management. c. Locus of control: He seems to display external locus of control as he believed...
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...Review Author(s): Susan H. Gray Review by: Susan H. Gray Source: Teaching Sociology, Vol. 17, No. 3 (Jul., 1989), pp. 416-418 Published by: American Sociological Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1318129 Accessed: 09-09-2015 19:22 UTC Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/ info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. American Sociological Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Teaching Sociology. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 197.220.150.185 on Wed, 09 Sep 2015 19:22:08 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 416 TEACHING SOCIOLOGY place of a consultant.Yet if the user does not have the statistical language necessary to answer the questions Ex-Sample asks, the program cannot reduce itself to a lower level, as a consultantcan. I believe that this latter point is a serious one, especially in using the programwith undergraduate students. On the other hand, if students have a strong background in statistics and if the research or statisticsclass includes a lab, the programmight...
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...Revision question p 460 1. Casual attribution is a method in which to attribute what caused success or failure in a certain situation. There are four categories which are Ability, Luck, task difficulty and effort. These four categories can be split into 2 sub-groups Internal/ external and stable/unstable. 2. Attribution theory looks at the reason for why someone failure or succeeded in a certain situation. This is important from a sports psychologists view because models such a Wieners give people the ability to blame their failure on external reasons out of there control and therefore keep motivation high. 3. The locus of causality dimension indicates whether the attribution relates to factors that are either internal or external to the performer. Effort and ability represent internal factors while task difficulty and luck are external and are known as environmental variables. Stability indicates whether attributions are stable or unstable. Stability refers to the degree of permanence associated with an attribution factor. A stable factor is considered permanent and unchangeable, for example ability. An unstable factor, by contrast, is temporary and can be changed. Luck is an example of an unstable factor. Control, which will be considered later, is a third dimension of the attribution model. It is not referred to directly in the specification but is a key factor in the important process of attribution retraining. 4. If a hockey player continues to lose because...
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...Kelley’s Attribution Theory Essay In this essay, readers will be presented with the literature review of Kelley’s attribution theory (1967), which was developed after the research done by Fritz Heider on attribution theory (1944, 1958). Moreover, a real world example relating to the theory will also be discussed along with the limitations and the three elements of the theory, which are consistency, distinctiveness and consensus. With that, recommendations will be given on how my experience can be improved with the chosen theory. There have been a great number of research done on perception over the last decade and social psychology had been primarily focused, perceiving causes of a person’s behavior (Kelley and Michela, 1980). In Kelley (1973), it is mentioned that Heider (1958) research has played a major role in contributing to the origination of attribution theory and it is still the major source cited in publications. Kelley’s attribution theory was also built onto Heider’s (1958) theory with an understanding that humans are “naïve psychologists” determining behaviors based on causes and effects (Hewstone and Jaspars, 1987). In Kelley (1973), it was mentioned that the central idea of attribution theory is the causal concept where human’s behavior relies on either the characteristics of the person (internal attribution) or the environment (external attribution). To determine whether a person’s behavior is caused by internal or external attribution, Kelley’s theory requires...
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...BUSN2007 Lecture-3 Lecture outline 1. Outline the perceptual process. 2. Explain how we perceive ourselves and others through social identity. 3. Discuss the accuracy of stereotypes. 4. Describe the attribution process and two attribution errors. 5. Diagram the self-fulfilling prophecy process. 6. Discuss three types of diversity initiatives. 7. Explain how the Johari Window can help improve our perceptions. 8. Identify the ‘Big Five’ personality dimensions. 9. Discuss the psychological dimensions identified by Jung and measured in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Perception and personality in organisations Why do so few women opt for careers in Engineering and Information Technology? •Sex-role stereotyping •Fewer role models •Low self-confidence •Image of industry Perceptual process model Environmental stimuli Feeling Hearing Seeing Smelling Tasting Selective attention Organisation and interpretation Emotions and behaviour © Ian Cugley/News Limited Selective attention • Characteristics of the object –size, intensity, motion, repetition, novelty Perceptual organisation/interpretation • Perceptual grouping principles –trends –similarity/proximity –closure • Perceptual context • Characteristics of the perceiver –values and attitudes –perceptual defence –expectations − condition us to expect events • Mental models –broad world-views or ‘theories-in-use’ –can blind people to potentially better perspectives 1 Social identity theory ACME...
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...1. Which motivational theory is influenced by personality? Discuss the motivational theory with the personality elements that are involved in the theory. What would be the likely effect of personality if you were to implement this method of motivation? Douglas McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y is influenced by personality. McGregor concluded that mangers’ views of the nature of human beings are based on a certain grouping of assumptions and that they tend to mould their behavior towards employees according to these assumptions. Under Theory X, the four assumptions held by managers are: 1. Employees inherently dislike work and whenever possible, will attempt to avoid it. 2. Since employees dislike work, they must be coerced, controlled or threatened with punishment to achieve goals. 3. Employees will avoid responsibilities and seek formal direction whenever possible. 4. Most workers place security above all other factors associated with work and will display little ambition. Under Theory Y, the four assumptions held by managers are: 1. Employees can view work as being as natural as rest or play. 2. People will exercise self-direction and self-control if they are committed to the objectives. 3. The average person can learn to accept, even seek, responsibility. 4. The ability to make innovative decisions is widely dispersed throughout the population and isn’t necessarily the sole province of those in management positions. Theory X assumes that...
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... most decision making in organizations are not completely rational. Person perception is the main issue in organizational behavior and decision making for the fact that based on M.J. Martinko et al.’s (2007) assertion the limited information or immediate impressions of employee performance could result in an inaccurate perceptual judgment made by the employers. In an attempt to explain the ways in which people form perceptions about each other, this essay will examine the influence of the attribution theory towards decision-making and illustrate three common biases and errors that distort the attribution formation through the application of three mini-case. This essay will also discuss the importance of attribution theory in relation to organizational behavior as well as decision-makers in organizations. Attribution theory is concerned with how individuals perceive and infer causality (Robert E. Ployhart and Crystal M. Harold, 2004). Johns et al. (2007) also state that the attribution theory is an attempt when individuals observe behavior to determine whether it is internally or externally caused. Internally caused behaviors refer to the behaviors which are under individual control while externally caused behaviors are the result of outside causes (Johns et al. 2007). To distinguish whether the behavior is one’s own outcomes or others’ actions, Robert E. et al. (2004) applied three pieces of information which originate from the Kelly model to infer causality: first of...
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...behaviour come from making attributions. Attributions are when we assign a causal meaning behind behaviour (Michael A. Hogg, 2014). For example, someone may attribute being given a compliment to dispositional factors such as them looking good or to external factors such at the other person being friendly. Attribution theories are not necessarily the actual cause of behaviour, but scientific theories behind what humans perceive to be the cause of behaviour (Försterling, 2013). Throughout our life we will construct our own, naive reasons for other peoples’ behaviour in order to gain a stable and predictive view of the world around us. While they are prone to...
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...from objective reality. People’s behaviour is based on their perception of what reality is, not reality itself. Factors that influence it Attribution theory The attribution theory is an attempt to determine whether an individual’s behaviour is internally or externally caused. Internally caused behaviours are those we believe to be under the personal control of the individual whereas externally caused behaviour is what we imagine the situation forced the individual to do. * Determinants of attribution 1. Distinctiveness: what we want to know is whether behaviour is unusual, if so we are likely to give it an external attribution. If not we will probably judge the behaviour to be internal. 2. Consensus: behaviour shows consensus when everyone who faces a similar situation responds in the same way. If consensus is high you will probably give an external attribution to the individual’s behaviour whereas if the consensus is low it will be attributed to an internal cause. 3. Consistency: does the person respond the say way over time? The more consistent the behaviour is the more we are inclined to attribute it to internal factors. Errors and bias that distort attribution: Fundamental attribution error: the tendency to underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal factors when making judgements about the behaviour of others. Self-serving bias:...
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...The story is about a ski instructor named Miranda who is having several issues with her new boss, Hank because he has done and said many things over the course of the time that he has been there to show that he may be sexist. This scenario has a lot to do with perception. Perception is defined as “a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment” (Robbins & Judge, 166). This paper will discuss what perception is and how much of an impact in can have in the work place. Miranda’s perception of her boss Hank is that he is a sexist. The initial problem that is discussed is the fact that she did not like the fact that as one of the most experienced ski instructors at the resort but she was only being assigned to teach the children instead of the adults, the same for all the other female instructors. She sees how Hank separates the men and the women instructor to have a meeting about work procedure, “After introducing himself and Harika, he took the men to one room, and Harika took the women to another,” (Cohan, Fink,Gadon, Willits & Josefowitz, 2013). That was the first thing that bothered her because she could not understand what it is that had to be said to only the male instructors that could not also be said to the female. Although this bothered her initially, she decided to find a positive side to the situation, and went along with it. The more she went along with what was going around the job place...
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