Attribution is a cognitive process used in

understanding /inferring causes of events

• Internal Factors
– Ability, personality, motivation, effort, mood, etc.
• External Factors
– Task difficulty, luck, boss, coworkers, God, etc.
Locus of Control

• Internal Locus of Control

• External Locus of Control
 Locus of Control

• Internals - Persons who think things happen due to their effort or due to
factors inside them

• Externals – Persons who think things happen to them due to factors

outside them
 Attribution Errors
The Fundamental Attribution Error
Tendency to over attribute other’s behavior
to internal rather than to external causes
Actor-Observer Effect
Tendency to attribute other’s behavior to
internal and to attribute one’s own behavior
to external causes
Self-serving Bias
Tendency to attribute one’s own success to
internal causes and to assign external causes
for one’s failure
 Weiner

Internal External

Stable Ability Task Difficulty

Variable Effort Luck/Chance