Question

What is Attribution Theory? What are its implications for explaining organizational behavior?

Answer
Attribution theory is a social psychology theory developed by Fritz Heider, Harold Kelley, Edward E. Jones, and Lee Ross. The theory explores how individuals "attribute" causes to events and behavior. It is defined as, An attempt when individuals observe behavior to determine whether it is internally or externally caused.

lements of Attribution Theory

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!ocus - location of the cause internal !dispositional" or external !situational" to the person #losely related to feelings of self-esteem $f success or failure is attributed to internal factors% success will lead to pride and increased motivation% whereas failure will diminish self-esteem "tability - whether the cause is li'ely to stay the same in the near future or can change #losely related to expectations about the future $f students attribute their failure to stable factors such as the difficulty of the sub(ect% they will expect to fail in that sub(ect in the future #ontrollability - whether the person can control the cause *elated to ambitions such as anger% pity% gratitude% or shame $f we feel responsible for our failures% we may feel guilt $f we feel responsible for our successes% we may feel proud +ailing at a tas' we cannot control can lead to shame or anger

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The theory divides the way people attribute causes into two types. "External" or "situational" attribution assigns causality to an outside factor% such as the weather. &. "Internal" or "dispositional" attribution assigns causality to factors within the person% such as their own level of intelligence or other variables that ma'e the individual responsible for the event.
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Implications for xplaining $rganizational %ehavior

,e all have a need to explain the world% both to ourselves and to other people% attributing cause to the events around us. This gives us a greater sense of control. ,hen explaining behavior% it can affect the standing of people within a group !especially ourselves". ,hen another person has erred% we will often use internal attribution% saying it is due to internal personality factors. ,hen we have erred% we will more li'ely use external attribution% attributing causes to situational factors rather than blaming ourselves and vice versa. ,e will attribute our successes internally and the successes of our rivals to external -luc'.. ,hen a football team wins% supporters say -we won.. /ut when the team loses% the supporters say -they lost.. 0ur attributions are also significantly driven by our emotional and motivational drives. /laming other people and avoiding personal recrimination are very real self-serving attributions. ,e will also ma'e attributions to defend what we perceive as attac's. ,e will point to in(ustice in an unfair world. 1eople with a high need to avoid failure will have a greater tendency to ma'e attributions that put themselves in a good light. #oncluding the debate% $ would li'e to 2uote a golden saying by one of the greatest scholars world has ever produced% /eware of losing trust by blaming others !i.e. ma'ing internal attributions about them". Also beware of ma'ing excuses !external attributions" that lead you to repeat mista'es and leads to #ognitive 3issonance in others when they are ma'ing internal attributions about you.