Attribute

Definition

In psychology, "attribute" refers to the process of assigning causes or explanations to behaviors, either by attributing them to internal dispositions (personality traits) or external situations. It involves making judgments about why people behave in a certain way.

Related terms

Fundamental Attribution Error: This term refers to our tendency to overemphasize internal factors and underestimate situational factors when explaining other people's behaviors.

Self-Serving Bias: This term describes our tendency to attribute our successes to internal factors (our abilities) and our failures to external factors (bad luck).

Actor-Observer Bias: This term explains how we tend to attribute others' behavior more to dispositional factors while attributing our own behavior more to situational factors.