Attribution theory

What is attribution theory? What is the fundamental attribution error (hint:self vs. other attributions)? Why is it important to distinguish between motivational and cognitive causes?

Attribution theory maintains that humans attribute causes to events into two distinctive types: the first is external attribution the assigns cause to outside phenomenon such as luck or the weather. The second is the reciprocal, internal attribution which places emphasis on the cause to personal traits. The fundamental attribution error is the assignment of events that are positive to internal attribution (“I did well on the test because I’m gifted”), and assigns negative events to external attribution (I did poorly on the test because the teacher was terrible”). The FAE is self-serving by design and for self-preservation. One must be able to differentiate between cognitive causes and motivational factors in order to better judge a situation, person or event based on the factors that truly affect the outcome.