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B.

Weiner: The History


Socialof Attribution
Psychology
© Theory
2008 Hogrefe
2008; Vol. and
& Huber Research
39(3):151–156
Publishers

Reflections on the History of


Attribution Theory and Research
People, Personalities, Publications, Problems
Bernard Weiner
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

University of California, Los Angeles, USA

Abstract. Fifty years after the publication of The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations (Heider, 1958), attribution inquiry remains
strong, but no longer dominant. This article examines some of the people (particularly, Fritz Heider, Edward Jones, and Harold Kelley),
publications, and conceptual issues that contributed to the duration of this line of work. Personal anecdotes are included.

Keywords: attribution, social psychology, history of psychology

In the 1950s, and particularly in the latter half of that de- der’s book, attribution theory still has some prominence?
cade, there was much theoretical ferment and excitement One answer to these questions relates to the places and the
in the related psychological subdisciplines of personality, personalities of the initial contributors. Atkinson, Festin-
social psychology, and human motivation. Among the con- ger, and Hull, for example, taught at major universities;
tributions at that time were Rotter’s (1954) conception of they had research groups, research assistants, and graduate
social learning theory; Festinger’s (1957) beliefs about students, as well as faculty collaborators. These theorists
cognitive dissonance; Atkinson’s (1957) theory of achieve- could be considered tribal leaders, being the kings and
ment striving; a variety of versions of cognitive consistency dominant members of their tribes. They laid down the laws;
(e.g., Abelson & Rosenberg, 1958), including Heider’s their wishes were abided; they were feared and admired.
(1958) notions about balance; extensions of Hullian drive One was an accepted member of the in-group or (at best)
theory to human learning and anxiety (Spence, 1958); a misguided member of the out-group. Hull, who was
White’s (1959) ideas about competence motivation; the trained as a robotic engineer, refused Heider’s request to
elaboration of ego-psychology by Rapaport (1959) and oth- attend his research meetings (at that time, Heider was at
ers; and many additional contributions of perhaps equal im- Smith College in Massachusetts, not too distant from Yale
portance. Also during this time, Heider (1958) published University in Connecticut). In a similar manner, Spence
his book, The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations, would not allow his students to take Lewin’s classes when
which is being celebrated in this volume. both were at the University of Iowa, and they clashed over
Fifty years later, it is useful to compare the longevity of the addition of philosopher Gustav Bergmann to advance
these seminal conceptions and determine which of them are their theoretical systems.
alive and well, as well as asking why the theories initially How this contrasts with Heider, at the rather unknown
took hold. This search is consistent with the findings of University of Kansas, working on his own without research
attribution research – we seek the cause(s) of an important assistants or funding. At the time prior to the publication
outcome. The conclusions to these questions will be argu- of his book, Heider’s “experimental” work did not require
able, but it certainly is the case that attribution theory has lab assistants. One morning when I was at his house in
not died and has (perhaps) outlived all (or most of) the Lawrence, Kansas, he excused himself, saying he was go-
conceptual advances listed above (e.g., how many current ing upstairs to his study to conduct some experiments.
graduate students in psychology can explain or even have There his analysis of Romeo and Juliet fostered the growth
heard of the contributions of Hull-Spence to drive theory, of balance theory (the situation between the lovers and the
the advances of ego psychology put forth by Rapaport, and parents created an imbalanced state), as did his “experi-
so on). However, it also is fair to state that attribution no mental” insights regarding the latent imbalance portrayed
longer is the dominant field of inquiry it once was, say in in Ibsen’s Wild Duck (the devoted husband is unaware of
the 1970–1985 era. the financial disasters undertaken by his beloved wife).
What gave rise to the growth and maintenance of this Furthermore, Heider’s book was published when he was 62
theory? Why is it that 50 years after the publication of Hei- years old. This was not the setting or conditions for the

© 2008 Hogrefe & Huber Publishers Social Psychology 2008; Vol. 39(3):151–156
DOI 10.1027/1864-9335.39.3.151
152 B. Weiner: The History of Attribution Theory and Research

establishment of tribal leadership, which he would not have The Role of Harold Kelley and Edward
desired or accepted in any case.
In 1978, at a conference on attribution held in Biele- Jones in the History of Attribution
feld, Germany, Heider started his talk as follows: “First Research
I want to say, do not attribute attribution theory to me.
Many here have contributed.” This statement is indeed
true, but its truth does not decrease Heider’s modesty. It If Heider wrote the principle source for attribution inquiry
rather conveys his openness and receptivity to alternative (although he certainly was not the first to write on this top-
concepts, ideas, methods, and so on. This, in part, paved ic; see, for example, Ichheiser, 1933; Michotte, 1946), then
the way for the richness of attribution theory, its applica- Kelley (1967) authored the chapter, published in the Ne-
tion to so many areas of psychology, and its lengthy braska Symposium of Motivation, that brought some core
shelf-life. The complement to this conclusion is that the attribution ideas into mainstream social psychology. He
rigidity or dogmatism of Atkinson, Festinger, and Hull- also was the initial mailman, delivering both his and Hei-
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.

Spence and/or their theories, in part, lead to the decline der’s thoughts to the scientific field. Kelley’s (1960) review
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

of these conceptions. of Heider’s book in Contemporary Psychology was widely


Of course, the fate of a theory, both its initial accep- read and, for many, was their first introduction to attribu-
tance and final duration, depends on more than people tion-related ideas. Prior to the publication of Heider’s book,
and places. Hopefully, the intrinsic merits of the concep- chapters had been mimeographed and distributed (you re-
tion will determine its longevity. Yet one cannot dismiss member, before e-mail and even Xerox), but not to a wide
the context and the Zeitgeist. Attribution theory took hold audience. The book awaited the help and subsequent col-
after cognitive dissonance had ruled social psychology laboration of Beatrice Wright, who imposed order and sys-
during the 1960s and had run its course. At the very core tematic construction.
of dissonance theory was Festinger’s Weltanschauung, In his chapter, Kelley (1967) introduced the so-called Kel-
that theory should contradict common-sense (this held ley cube, which systematically analyzed the covariation an-
even in his later work as an evolutionary psychologist). tecedents of causal beliefs, specifying the role of social norms
Heider, to the contrary, embraced common-sense and and past history in causal decision-making. While social psy-
was believed to capture the views of the “naïve” person, or chologists universally acclaimed the Kelley chapter, Heider
the person “on the street.” Social psychologists had much had misgivings. In a well-attended conference presentation,
more simpatico for the position of Festinger than Heider, while discussing the Kelley cube, Heider gently pulled his
often portraying naïve psychology with the Yiddish label two ears and followed this by sticking out his tongue. After a
of “bubba” (grandma) psychology, a pejorative term indi- few repetitions, he asked the audience if they thought the ear
cating it was nothing new. I confess that I initially shared tugging caused the tongue extension. Although rarely a user
the abhorrence of common-sense psychology. I first be- of statistics in his own research, Heider certainly distin-
came involved in attribution research when Harold Kelley, guished correlation from causation. Kelley was in the audi-
my colleague at UCLA, went on sabbatical leave and asked ence and on occasion repeated the Heider facial gestures and
me to mentor one of his students, Linda Beckman. When criticisms when discussing causal inferences.
we first met I asked Linda about her interests. She stated: Although Kelley is perhaps best known for his contribu-
“I want to know why students think they succeeded or tions to attribution theory, he never viewed himself as an
failed.” “Oh no,” I replied, “the common-sense Heider stuff attribution theorist. He confided to me that attribution was
that I dislike.” I was merely repeating a sentiment ex- merely a hobby. Kelley perceived himself as a theorist of
pressed a few years earlier by my mentor, John Atkinson, interpersonal relations and most envied Heider for using
when I was a student and his research group discussed the the exact book title that he coveted.
Heider (1958) book (and quickly set it aside). As stated thus far, Heider supplied the seminal attribu-
There are many reasons for the aversion of social psy- tion ideas and Hal Kelley (along with Ned Jones, yet to be
chologists to common-sense, ranging from irrational discussed) made them known to social psychologists.
(fear of not being regarded as scientific) to rational (the However, it may have been the book, Attribution: Perceiv-
belief that science must develop its own language sys- ing the Causes of Behavior, coauthored or coedited by six
tems). Suffice it to say that there are many causes of sci- of us (Jones et al., 1972) that lifted attribution to its place
entific growth and decline, and surely the common-sense as a dominant conception within social psychology. A
label played an important role in the history of attribution number of ideas that were introduced or elaborated in that
thinking. Indeed, the waning of attribution theory toward book, including actor/observer attribution disparities, dis-
the end of the 1980s coincided with (was caused by?) a positional attribution biases, verb causality, causal dimen-
refocus on unconscious determinants of behavior, as il- sions, causal schemata, attribution of arousal, and on and
lustrated in the priming literature. Later in this paper I on, became part of mainstream social psychology. The sto-
return to the issue of theoretical longevity and suggest ry of that book publication, in which I was fortunate to have
other factors that may have contributed to its duration and played a role, has some interesting twists and turns. Here
decline. is some of that history from a self-focused perspective.

Social Psychology 2008; Vol. 39(3):151–156 © 2008 Hogrefe & Huber Publishers
B. Weiner: The History of Attribution Theory and Research 153

The Publication History of Attribution: the first draft, so took my chances that I would beat him to
the punch with an updated version.
Perceiving the Causes of Behavior I worked extremely hard, overseeing new research stud-
ies, shortening the chapter, being more constrained theoret-
In 1968, Kelley approached me and proposed to establish ically, and incorporating many other suggestions from
a working group on attribution theory. I was quite new to Jones the smart and famous and rigorous. Alas, just as I
the area and was flattered by his invitation. He had already was nearing completion of this revision, a large envelope
planned the meeting and soon obtained federal funding. appeared in my mailbox. Kelley had responded. I read the
Four others were invited, the main person being Edward opening lines and my eyes began to water:
(Ned) Jones. Prior to the covariation analyses provided by “Bernie,” the first line said, “this paper needs a lot of work.”
Kelley, a well-known chapter on correspondent inferences
and the perceived determinants of choice and decision I knew I had seen that somewhere before. I continued to
making had been published by Jones and Davis (1965). read:
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

This provided the background for subsequent thinking “It has far too much data and not enough theory. Give yourself
about dispositional biases and proposed actor/observer at- more space. Don’t be in such a rush and shortchange the con-
tribution disparities. At that time, Kelley and Jones were ceptual part. I suggest you condense the empirical section, get
among the most prominent social psychologists. The other out some of the experimental conditions and controls and ex-
four conference participants, including myself, were young pand the theory. By the way, if it is not too late, do not send
assistant professors. Two, Richard Nisbett and Stuart Va- this to Ned. He will kill you. All the best: Hal”
lins, were students of Stanley Schachter and had published I thought this over, returned to the first draft, made some
on attributions for internal arousal, while the other, David minimal changes, and re-sent it to Jones and Kelley. They
Kanouse, also at UCLA, had expertise in linguistics. He answered quickly, concluding that the revision was much
was examining causal inferences elicited by disparate verb improved. I assume they did not read the new paper and/or
types. At that time I was primarily working on achievement could not remember the old.
motivation. Our Yale meeting was in the last days when we began
In the summer of l969, we met daily for 3 weeks at to discuss where to publish our chapters. At these waning
UCLA. The mornings were intense discussions, or I should moments the mention of a book was made. This goal was
say arguments or controversies between Jones and Kelley. not our original intent. There was agreement to combine
I was not sure what all the fuss was about and to the best our chapters into a book, to be published by a new press,
of my memory, the four assistant professors said relatively General Learning. General Learning Press published the
little. The afternoons were devoted to reading or other chapters individually, as well as combining them into a
planned activities. At the conclusion of this initial meeting, complete book. After the book had been out about a year,
we were to write papers, either individually or with coau- I received a call from a potential reader asking why it was
thors, and send these to designated others in our group for no longer available. I was rather shocked to learn the book
comments. Then we agreed to meet for another 3 weeks the was not in print and immediately contacted the publisher.
following year, at Yale University, to finalize these papers The representative explained that the appropriate paper
and address remaining issues. was not available. I subsequently learned that just prior to
The group decided who would be the best reviewers for our publication their paper warehouse flooded and special
each of the papers. To my horror, Jones and Kelley agreed paper had to be imported. When the first printing sold out,
to serve as my critics. I regarded them with fear: They were publication stopped while there was a search for more of
extremely bright, verbal, highly critical, and were quite this exclusive paper, which the publisher assumed had been
likely to play key roles in my later tenure decision. After I ordered for our book. That problem was clarified and ordi-
had completed my writing, with five students as coauthors, nary paper was used for the subsequent printings.
I sent the manuscript to Jones and Kelley. Within a week I As indicated earlier, this book had a major impact on the
received a reply from Jones. I still remember the dreaded growth of attribution visibility and research. The book,
first sentence, and will paraphrase the rest: along with the individual chapters, has been cited several
thousand times and created, or helped to create, the tide for
“ Bernie, this paper needs a lot of work. It is far too theoretical
attribution inquiry.
and too long. You must add further experiments, get additional
data, include some other key conditions and controls, and so There also was a sad consequence of our meetings.
on . . .” It concluded: “Do not send this to Kelley until you Many years later I was having dinner with Ned Jones and
make changes. He will kill you. All the best. Ned” he confessed that the meetings elicited a deep depression.
He felt the young assistant professors had “taken over” and
My worst fears had been realized. I marshaled my resourc- he was no longer up to the mental tasks of his position. Of
es and began to make changes to satisfy the empirically- course, this was a totally unwarranted conclusion and quite
minded Jones. I knew there was time because Kelley would the opposite of our beliefs – we greatly admired and envied
be slow in responding. I did not want to tell him not to read Ned. He labeled his occasional drinking a “self-handicap-

© 2008 Hogrefe & Huber Publishers Social Psychology 2008; Vol. 39(3):151–156
154 B. Weiner: The History of Attribution Theory and Research

ping strategy,” that is, a dysfunctional behavior to ensure sources of the spark and the initial kindling remain the
that failure, if it occurred, would not be ascribed by him or same. But rather than a central forest fire on which many
others to low ability. So that is how the idea of self-handi- heap wood and brush, the wind scattered the fire to various
capping became part of social psychology and attribution locations, giving rise to numerous smaller pockets of flame.
theory. I have always wondered if it had applicability to There were indeed paths between these various bonfires,
anyone else. but nonetheless the fires remained separate, extinguished
at different rates, and left separate legacies. Hence, there is
no over-riding attribution theory and the use of this term is
misleading. Rather, there are many attribution-based theo-
The Next Milestones ries and attribution is better characterized as a field of study
rather than a theory. Paradoxically, the lack of theoretical
There were numerous subsequent key events in the history unity gave rise to hybrid vigor and contributed to the dura-
of attribution inquiry, although there certainly would be de- tion of attribution-related activity.
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.

bate on which were the most important. I include among Acceptance of this metaphor calls attention to some dis-
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

these milestones the three-volume publication edited by agreements or contrasts between areas within attribution
Harvey, Ickes, and Kidd (1976, 1978, 1980), which con- research, even though they did emanate from the same
tained nearly 50 chapters written by many well-known fig- sources. These distinctions are subtle and often have gone
ures as well as an informative interview with Heider. A unrecognized by those adding to the flames. I want to call
number of single-authored texts also followed that I will attention to three pertinent, interrelated issues that remain
not enumerate (with apologies to the authors). In addition, unsolved, as well as rarely discussed. These conceptual
there were research extensions beyond the confines of so- problems concern attributions for events versus outcomes,
cial psychology. I like to think that my work on success and the contrast between reason and cause, and the specifica-
failure (Weiner, 1979, 1985) introduced attribution theory tion of attributions as pre- versus postevent perceptions.
to motivation and education. In addition, the extensions of
learned helpless by Abramson, Seligman, and Teasdale
(1978) to clinical psychology and depression greatly ex- Attributions for Events Versus Outcomes
panded the attribution audience.
Unfortunately, Heider, Jones, and Kelley are no longer Heider, in part, traced the origin of his thinking about caus-
physically with us, although their influence remains. Hei- al attributions to the discovery of sand on an office desk.
der died in 1988 at the age of 92, Jones 5 years later in 1993 This raised questions such as: “Why is there sand here?
at the age of 67, and Kelley a decade later in 2003 at the Where did it come from?” The answers to these questions
age of 82. They formed the initial great troika for the study soon were revealed when it was noticed that the roof was
of causal attributions. Each had long marriages, large fam- leaking. This resulted in some needed repairs that, if not
ilies, many admirers and friends, countless awards, rich and undertaken, would have resulted in the collapse of the ceil-
productive lives. ing. Attributions, he concluded, were essential for adaptive
behavior, and the field of attribution grew as one subset of
the study of cognitive functionalism.
For Heider, any event, action, or occurrence, including
Persisting Problems sand on a desk, can give rise to the search for causes. The
honking of a horn, a person calling another for a date, a
There are various descriptions (metaphors) that give rise to delay in the arrival of a bus, the purchase of a house, and
disparate portraits of the attribution field. The most preva- on and on, might stimulate a desire for understanding. The
lent view is that Heider provided the initial spark, Jones postulation of actor/observer discrepancies and the hypoth-
and Kelley brought the kindling wood, and that started the esis of dispositional biases stem from a consideration of
fire. Others threw on logs and branches and soon there was explanations for virtually any event.
a forest fire. Over time, like all fires, it began to burn out, On the other hand, in my work and those of others in the
although there remained some occasional flares and a lot achievement domain, as well as for individuals who study,
of smoldering that left cause for concern. Also, like most for example, attributional style, attributions are elicited for
fires, it enriched the soil and left a positive residue for the achievement outcomes. That is, in achievement settings
evolution of the forest. This metaphor suggests a unified there is a desire to find the causes of success and failure.
attribution theory, with all research guided by a shared the- Thus, I do not address beliefs regarding why individuals
oretical perspective. This characterizes, to a great extent, undertake achievement activities, i.e., why one plays base-
the literature driven by Atkinson’s theory of achievement ball, or goes to school, or accepts a particular job. However,
motivation, Festinger’s conception of cognitive disso- I do examine perceptions regarding why one struck out at
nance, and the Hull-Spence presentation of drive theory. baseball, dropped out of school, or was fired from a job,
I subscribe to a different, albeit related metaphor, when from the perspective of either the actor or an observer. No-
characterizing the attribution domain. In this view, the tice that these are negative end results, which elicit more

Social Psychology 2008; Vol. 39(3):151–156 © 2008 Hogrefe & Huber Publishers
B. Weiner: The History of Attribution Theory and Research 155

search and attribution-related activity than do positive out- Explaining the Past Versus Predicting the
comes. The hedonic bias, or the tendency to take more
credit for positive than for negative outcomes, concerns Future
outcome-related attributions rather than ascriptions for
Beliefs about control have played a central role in attribu-
events not associated with any valence. Linkage to out-
tional inquiry. This influence traces back to the distinction
comes rather than to events also characterizes the identifi-
articulated by Rotter (1966) between internal versus exter-
cation of optimistic versus pessimistic attributional styles,
nal locus of control, although Heider (1958) also contrasted
which grew from the learned-helplessness literature, as
two sources or loci of “can,” ability (internal to the person)
well as applying to literatures related to attributions for
and task difficulty (a characteristic of the environment).
stigmas, which are perceived as negative outcomes. Heider
The locus construct (independent of control beliefs) was
regarded my definition of attributions as too narrow and
central in the research bias pursuits that characterized a
questioned my restricted vision of causal beliefs.
great deal of attribution work: hedonic biasing, actor/ob-
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.

server disparities, and the preference for dispositional in-


This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

ferences. In addition, the notion of personal control became


Reasons Versus Causes incorporated into research on stress, health, and coping. It
was contended that if an individual perceives personal con-
If a person is asked why he or she went to Movie X, the trol over his or her environment, then stress is reduced and
likely answers will be what are called reasons, such as: “I adaptive functioning is more likely. This has positive im-
heard it was good”; “I was given free tickets”; “I love mys- plications for physical and mental health. Individual differ-
teries”; and so on. These explanations or justifications ence measures, with persons labeled as internal versus ex-
make the choice understandable and intelligible. In ex- ternal in locus of control, are part of this research tradition,
plaining everyday actions, people focus on reasons, which generating hypotheses that individuals with an internal lo-
are associated with desires, incentives (costs and benefits), cus of control are likely to be “better” in virtually every-
volitional choice (intentions), and free will (see Malle, thing (including dealing with health-related problems) than
2004). Heider included reasons as examples of causal as- are persons classified as external in control locus.
criptions. Although Heider did not discuss Rotter’s locus of con-
Attribution theory has either confounded the distinction trol construct, he embraced a closely related distinction of-
between causes and reasons or else has neglected it. As fered by Richard deCharms (1968) between “origin” and
again displayed in my work and other writings related to “pawn.” Heider used the label “self-starter” in addressing
achievement strivings, outcomes are associated with causes some attribution-related issues and believed this character-
rather than with reasons. For example, failure ascribed to ization had adaptive significance.
lack of ability reveals a perceived cause of that outcome. Should beliefs about the future (e.g., “if I try hard then
Neither lack of ability nor failure is associated with free I will succeed”; “I can control my weight, and, thus, will
choice, or with any incentive. Furthermore, neither the improve my health”; “I have the strength to take charge of
cause nor the result generally is “intended.” my life and, thus, will be accepted in the program I want”)
The distinction between cause and reason is at times be considered under the rubric of attribution theory? Or
murky. For example, although failure is not desired, suc- rather, does attribution theory instead look backward: “I
cess is, and although lack of ability is not “intentional,” succeeded; it is because I tried hard”; “I improved my
putting forth the needed effort is intended. Nonetheless, it health; it was caused by losing weight”; “I was accepted
is reasonable to maintain a cause/reason distinction and for the program of my choice; it was because I took charge
link these, respectively, to attributions for outcomes versus of my life.” The former hypotheses embrace the future, te-
events. Attributions (causes) for outcomes may be less sub- leology, and reasons; the latter relations concern the past
ject to the pejorative “naïve psychology” label than are as- outcomes, mechanism, and causes. Heider did not disen-
criptions (reasons) for events, which are more closely re- tangle the two groupings, embracing them both within the
lated to everyday explanations (see Malle, 2004). In addi- large framework of causal thinking. I suspect this has left
tion, a causal analysis can be considered mechanical the field with some enduring problems and confounds, but
(pushing the organism) as opposed to a reason analysis, also many possibilities and avenues for study.
which has the flavor of teleology (action “in order to”).
Teleology has a relatively lower rung in what is regarded
as scientific explanation. This distinction, in part, leads me
to question the characterization of attribution theory as A Summary and Concluding Note
“naïve” psychology. In addition, the predictions derived
from attribution theory are often not available to the lay- Fritz Heider is one of the giants of the social sciences in
person and certainly attribution theories strive for general- the last century. In his 1958 book, he proposes two related
ity and parsimony, attributes not associated with naïve psy- conceptions: Attribution theory and balance theory, each of
chology. which had a major impact not only within social psychol-

© 2008 Hogrefe & Huber Publishers Social Psychology 2008; Vol. 39(3):151–156
156 B. Weiner: The History of Attribution Theory and Research

ogy, but across fields of psychology and to other academic Ichheiser, G. (1933). Das Können, die Bedingungen des Könnens,
disciplines as well. Although the dominance of both con- und das Erlebnis des Könnens [Ability, the conditions of abil-
ceptions has waned, they remain influential ways of think- ity, and the experience of ability]. Zeitschrift fur angewandte
ing about ourselves and others. They have left permanent Psychologie, 44, 364–378.
legacies, both empirical and theoretical, for the evolution Jones, E.E., & Davis, K.E. (1965). From acts to dispositions: The
of psychological thought. attribution process in person perception. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.),
Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 219–
The formulation of attribution theory was aided by many
266). New York: Academic Press.
others, particularly Ned Jones and Hal Kelley, although
Jones, E.E., Kanouse, D.E., Kelley, H.H., Nisbett, R.E., Valins,
there also was a large cast of additional contributors. This
S., & Weiner, B. (Eds.). (1972). Attribution: Perceiving the
resulted in many research directions and a variety of off- causes of behavior. Morristown, NJ: General Learning.
shoots from the original conception(s). The fragmentation
Kelley, H.H. (1960). The analysis of common sense. A review of
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bution theory, which had never been clearly formalized or Contemporary Psychology, 5, 1–3.
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.

demarcated. Some vagueness relates to lack of distinctions


This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

Kelley, H.H. (1967). Attribution theory in social psychology. In


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to the hybrid vigor of attributional thinking and, in part, MA: MIT Press.
caused its resistance to extinction. In addition, Heider must Michotte, A. (1946). The perception of causality. New York: Ba-
be given credit for being open to the many variants of at- sic Books.
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others were “wrong.” Fritz would never do that! systematizing attempt. In S. Koch (Ed.), Psychology: A study
of a science (Vol. 3, pp. 55–183). New York: McGraw-Hill.
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