Microsoft Word Chapter 1 done doc

Check Your Progress : II 
1. Which according to Darwin are the common expressions of 
emotion? 
2. List some factors that influence the facial expression of 
emotions. 
5.5
ATTRIBUTION, THEORIES OF ATTRIBUTION 
AND ATTRIBUTION BIAS :
Attribution refers to the the thought processes we employ in 
explaining the behavior of other people and our own as well. 
Attribution
implies an explanation for the cause of an event or 
behavior. Attribution theory explains how individuals pinpoint the 
causes of their own behavior or that of others. 
We are 
preoccupied with seeking, constructing and testing
explanations of 
our experiences
and to
render it orderly, meaningful and 
predictable for adaptive
action.
Fritz Heider is considered the father of attribution theory. He 
believed that people are like amateur scientists, trying to 
understand other people’s behavior by piecing together information 
until they arrive at a reasonable cause.
He proposed a simple dichotomy for people’s explanations: 
internal attributions, in which people infer that a person is behaving 
a certain way because of something about that person (e.g., a trait 
or attitude) versus external attributions, in which people infer that a 
person is behaving in a certain way because of the situation that he 
or she is in. Heider also noted that people seem to prefer internal 
attributions
 

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The Two-Step Process of Making Attributions
There are two steps involved in the process of attribution.
First step : Here people analyze another’s behavior, they typically 
make an internal attribution automatically.
Second step : Here they think about possible situational reasons 
for the behavior. After engaging in the second step, they may adjust 
their original internal attribution to take account of situational factors.
Because this second step is more conscious and effortful, 
people may not get to it if they are distracted or preoccupied. 
People will be more likely to engage in the second step of 
attributional processing when they consciously think carefully 
before making a judgment, when they are motivated to be as 
accurate as possible, or if they are suspicious about the motives of 
the target.
Research has demonstrated that spouses in happy 
marriages make internal attributions for their partner’s positive 
behaviors and external attributions for their partner’s negative 
behaviors, while spouses in distressed marriages display the 
opposite pattern.
Internal and external attributions can have dramatic 
consequences on everyday interactions. How you react to a 
person's anger may be dependent on whether you believe that they 
are having a bad day or that they dislike something about you - the 
ripples flow into the future and influence how you treat that person 
henceforth. 
Jones and Davis's (1965) correspondent inference
theory
explains how people infer that a person's behaviour
corresponds to 
an underlying disposition or personality trait. Dispositional (internal) 
cause is preferred as it is stable and
renders people's behaviour 
more predictable and increases
sense of control.