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According to some social psychologists, people tend to overemphasize internal factors as explanations—or attributions—for the behavior of other people. They tend to assume that the behavior of another person is a trait of that person, and to underestimate the power of the situation on the behavior of others. They tend to fail to recognize when the behavior of another is due to situational variables, and thus to the person’s state. This erroneous assumption is...
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Correspondent inference theory, proposed by Jones and Davis in 1965, seeks to explain how individuals infer stable personality traits from observed behaviors. It suggests that people attribute actions to underlying dispositions rather than external circumstances, particularly when the behavior appears intentional and socially significant.Voluntary Behavior and Dispositional AttributionAccording to this theory, individuals are more likely to attribute behavior to personal traits when it appears...
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Behavior is a product of both the situation (e.g., cultural influences, social roles, and the presence of bystanders) and of the person (e.g., personality characteristics). Subfields of psychology tend to focus on one influence or behavior over others. Situationism is the view that our behavior and actions are determined by our immediate environment and surroundings. In contrast, dispositionism holds that our behavior is determined by internal factors (Heider, 1958).
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In social interactions, individuals frequently seek to understand the motivations and causes behind others' behaviors. This fundamental aspect of social perception, known as attribution, plays a crucial role in shaping interpersonal relationships and guiding future actions. Attribution refers to the cognitive process through which people infer the reasons behind others' behaviors, allowing them to assess character traits, intentions, and situational influences.Attribution Theory and Its...
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Theory of Attribution II: Kelley's Covariation Theory01:29

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Attribution theory plays a crucial role in social psychology, helping to explain how individuals interpret the causes of behavior. One prominent model within this field is Harold Kelley's covariation theory, which provides a systematic approach to determining whether internal traits or external circumstances drive a person's actions. The model posits that individuals rely on three key types of information—consensus, consistency, and distinctiveness—to make these judgments.Consensus:...
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Correspondence Bias01:17

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Correspondence bias, also referred to as the fundamental attribution error, describes the tendency to attribute another person’s behavior to internal characteristics rather than situational influences. This cognitive bias leads individuals to overlook external factors that may be influencing actions, thereby fostering potentially inaccurate assessments of others’ intentions and dispositions.Empirical Evidence for Correspondence BiasResearch has consistently demonstrated the...
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The Joint Effect of Social Comparison and Social Distance on Evaluation of Intertemporal Choice Outcomes in Event-related Potential Studies
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Predicting responsibility judgments from dispositional inferences and causal attributions.

Antonia F Langenhoff1, Alex Wiegmann2, Joseph Y Halpern3

  • 1University of California, Berkeley, United States.

Cognitive Psychology
|July 24, 2021
PubMed
Summary

This study introduces a computational model for understanding responsibility judgments, combining character inference and causal attribution. The model accurately predicts how people assign responsibility in group settings and moral contexts.

Keywords:
CausalityCounterfactualsExpectationsNormalityPivotalityResponsibilityVoting

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Social Psychology
  • Computational Social Science

Background:

  • Assigning responsibility is a fundamental aspect of social cognition, yet existing theories are often qualitative or narrowly quantitative.
  • Bridging the gap between broad theoretical frameworks and specific empirical models is crucial for advancing our understanding of responsibility judgments.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop and test a novel computational model of responsibility judgments.
  • To integrate dispositional inference and causal attribution into a unified model.
  • To examine the model's predictive power in both group decision-making and moral judgment contexts.

Main Methods:

  • Developed a computational model positing responsibility judgments arise from inferring character (dispositional inference) and assessing role in an outcome (causal attribution).
  • Tested the model in a simulated political committee setting where participants voted on policy passage.
  • Assessed dispositional inferences and causal attributions by measuring participants' perceptions of surprise and importance regarding committee members' votes.

Main Results:

  • Participants' assessments of surprise and importance in Experiment 1 accurately predicted responsibility judgments in Experiment 2.
  • The model successfully predicted moral responsibility judgments in Experiments 3 and 4.
  • Importance ratings were stronger predictors of responsibility judgments, while surprise ratings were more predictive of wrongfulness judgments.

Conclusions:

  • The developed computational model offers a robust framework for understanding the cognitive processes underlying responsibility attribution.
  • The findings highlight the distinct yet integrated roles of dispositional inference (surprise) and causal attribution (importance) in shaping judgments of responsibility and wrongfulness.
  • This research bridges theoretical and quantitative approaches, providing a more comprehensive model of social responsibility.