Attribution Theory: External Attribution Example

Medium Unit 9: Social Psychology Attribution Theory

Attribution theory seeks to explain how individuals interpret the causes of behavior. When observing someone's actions, people typically make internal attributions, assigning the behavior to personal traits, or external attributions, attributing it to situational factors. Imagine a student sees a classmate performing poorly on a math test. The observer might have different explanations for this behavior depending on their beliefs about the classmate's abilities and the context of the exam.

Based on this understanding of attribution theory, which of the following scenarios illustrates a tendency towards making an external attribution?

The classmate regularly studies hard but still struggles on the test due to the difficult questions.

The classmate is known to be less intelligent than their peers, which is why they failed.

The classmate was distracted by personal issues and could not concentrate during the test.

The classmate often skips classes, resulting in poor performance.

The classmate lacks motivation and interest in the subject, leading to low grades.

Hint

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