Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Theory of Attribution I: Correspondent Inference Theory01:15

Theory of Attribution I: Correspondent Inference Theory

449
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...
449
Fundamental Attribution Error01:14

Fundamental Attribution Error

13.7K
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...
13.7K
Attribution01:26

Attribution

263
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...
263
Theory of Attribution II: Kelley's Covariation Theory01:29

Theory of Attribution II: Kelley's Covariation Theory

497
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:...
497
Attribution Theory00:56

Attribution Theory

13.7K
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).
13.7K
Correspondence Bias01:17

Correspondence Bias

194
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...
194

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Anxiety, Cognitive Biases, and Evaluative Conditioning: An Eye-Tracking Experiment.

International review of social psychology·2026
Same author

Assessing the Relational Abilities of Large Language Models and Large Reasoning Models.

Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland)·2026
Same author

The HEXACO Adjective Scale: A Cross-Cultural Validity Study.

Journal of personality assessment·2025
Same author

Moderating effect of stimulus presentation type, contingency awareness and anxiety on evaluative conditioning: an attentional perspective.

Cognition & emotion·2025
Same author

Long-term Contingency Learning Depends on Contingency Awareness.

Journal of cognition·2025
Same author

The impact of model eyesight and social reward on automatic imitation in virtual reality.

Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance·2025
Same journal

Metacognitive and Interpersonal Intellectual Humility Are Asymmetrically Associated with Well-Being.

Personality & social psychology bulletin·2026
Same journal

Intergroup Contact and Belonging Among Ethiopian Jews in Ethiopia.

Personality & social psychology bulletin·2026
Same journal

A Taxonomy of Data Synthesis.

Personality & social psychology bulletin·2026
Same journal

When and Why Beliefs About the Causes of a Policy Problem Predict Policy Support.

Personality & social psychology bulletin·2026
Same journal

Prospects of Downward Mobility Cause Status Anxiety and Life Dissatisfaction.

Personality & social psychology bulletin·2026
Same journal

Fluency as a Cue to Authenticity.

Personality & social psychology bulletin·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 16, 2026

RBDT: A Computerized Task System based in Transposition for the Continuous Analysis of Relational Behavior Dynamics in Humans
11:09

RBDT: A Computerized Task System based in Transposition for the Continuous Analysis of Relational Behavior Dynamics in Humans

Published on: July 17, 2021

3.4K

Re-examining Spontaneous Trait Transference from an Attributional Perspective.

Marine Rougier1, Leonard Heusler2, Jan De Houwer1

  • 1Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.

Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin
|September 28, 2025
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Spontaneous trait transference (STT) occurs when people attribute traits to others based on descriptions. This study shows trait attribution depends on the relationship, statement diagnosticity, and statement validity, confirming attributional processes.

Keywords:
attributionevaluative conditioninginferencerelational moderatorspontaneous trait transference

More Related Videos

Virtual Hand with Ambiguous Movement between the Self and Other Origin: Sense of Ownership and 'Other-Produced' Agency
08:01

Virtual Hand with Ambiguous Movement between the Self and Other Origin: Sense of Ownership and 'Other-Produced' Agency

Published on: October 28, 2020

6.0K
Pavlovian Conditioned Approach Training in Rats
06:57

Pavlovian Conditioned Approach Training in Rats

Published on: February 4, 2016

11.4K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jan 16, 2026

RBDT: A Computerized Task System based in Transposition for the Continuous Analysis of Relational Behavior Dynamics in Humans
11:09

RBDT: A Computerized Task System based in Transposition for the Continuous Analysis of Relational Behavior Dynamics in Humans

Published on: July 17, 2021

3.4K
Virtual Hand with Ambiguous Movement between the Self and Other Origin: Sense of Ownership and 'Other-Produced' Agency
08:01

Virtual Hand with Ambiguous Movement between the Self and Other Origin: Sense of Ownership and 'Other-Produced' Agency

Published on: October 28, 2020

6.0K
Pavlovian Conditioned Approach Training in Rats
06:57

Pavlovian Conditioned Approach Training in Rats

Published on: February 4, 2016

11.4K

Area of Science:

  • Social Psychology
  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Behavioral Science

Background:

  • Spontaneous trait transference (STT) is a phenomenon where observers attribute personality traits to a communicator based on the traits implied by the behavior they describe.
  • Existing research suggests STT is a common cognitive bias, but the underlying attributional processes require further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of rule-based attributional processes in spontaneous trait transference.
  • To examine moderators influencing STT, including communicator-actor relationships, statement diagnosticity, and statement validity.

Main Methods:

  • Four experiments were conducted to test the influence of various moderators on STT.
  • Participants rated communicators' traits after they described others' behaviors under different experimental conditions.

Main Results:

  • Trait ratings were jointly impacted by the communicator-actor relation, statement diagnosticity, and statement validity, supporting attributional theories.
  • Experiment 4 demonstrated that communicators were attributed traits based on the act of describing behavior, not solely the described behavior itself.

Conclusions:

  • The findings suggest that spontaneous trait transference is driven by attributional processes, where individuals infer traits about a communicator based on their descriptive actions.
  • Understanding these attributional mechanisms is crucial for comprehending social perception and impression formation.