Attribution Theories Essay

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Attribution Theories

In general terms, attribution theories are a person's psychological response to a conflict in an effort to explain the cause of the contention. While these theories may apply to any given situation, they are often closely intertwined with more intimate, interpersonal relationships. People in such relationships may attempt to explain their own actions or the actions of the other person in terms that may mitigate their own culpability. The ability to explain why someone would act or behave in a certain way may help a person alleviate the stress associated with the conflict. There are several different types of attribution theories that people use to explain another's behavior but three of them in particular are often cited in relationship studies.

Many people in a relationship may attempt to attribute their counterpart's behavior to personal vs. situational causes. In this way, a person seems to believe that another person acted in a certain way because of his personal nature rather than the situation at hand. For instance, a woman may attribute her boyfriend's behavior to his personality quirks, rather than the situation they are confronting.

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A friend of mine always complained that her boyfriend was impatient and condescending towards her. Her justification for this was that, though he would never say anything directly to her, she could tell from "the look" he gave her that he was displeased. While she claimed that this was just "the way he is," she never made any attempt to attribute her own behavior to his displeasure. Perhaps he was upset with her for wanting to spend money they didn't have or because she wanted to go out with friends instead of him. In this case he may have been upset with the situation but she instead felt that he acted that way simply because of his personality.

Many people also make attributions about a person's behavior either being stable or unstable. Often during an argument, one person might become exasperated with the other and ascribe his behavior to a generally defective personality trait. If someone is forced to deal with this….....

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