An Introduction to Attribution Processes

Book excerpt: Why do people act the way they do? How do their desires and fears become known to us? When are our opinions of others correct, and when are they likely to be mistaken? These are questions which attribution theory tries to answer. Originally published in 1975, this title provides an informal introduction to the field of attribution, with the theoretical principles and issues illustrated in everyday examples. The origins of current attribution theory are outlined, and models of the inference process are examined. The intellectual debt owed to social psychology by the attribution theory is acknowledged, and an exploration of the interpersonal and social consequences of attribution is included.