Attributional Tendencies

 

Week 6 October 22, 2020 Response to Attributional Tendencies

 

Every day we make attributions on the events in our lives.  For example; “I didn’t do very well on that last exam, it must be because the teacher didn’t teach what was on the exam.” Or “I got an ‘A’ on that last exam, I’m really smart”.  Both of these examples are how we explain our good behavior or give it a good excuse if it wasn’t so good.  There are internal attributions where we exam our own success or failures.  There are also external attributions were we look to blame others.  It can also be external when think of others faults or success and make judgments on the situations they are in.  These are our attributional tendencies.

From watching the video with Professor John Ivers, I learned attributional tendencies can occur for the actions of others.  Parents can feel joy or disappointment for the actions of their children.  The parents think how good of a parent they are or it must be their fault, when in reality parents have no responsibility of their children’s actions.

It’s interesting to note that in a western Individualism society, people are more inclined to attribute their successes internally and believe they did something good; it was all because of them.  In a Collectivism society, like Asia; they will believe their successes are because of others.  This is important to remember this when teaching to ELL.  They may attribute their success and failures to themselves and or others.  But they will also look to the teacher for judgement or praise.  This can raise their Affective Filter and stop them from progressing in the language.   Teachers need to be aware of how the attributes they give can affect the learner.

I also think it is wise to be aware of our attribution tendencies because it is how we judge ourselves and others.  We can tend to be quick to find fault and lower our own self-esteem and then it is easier to find fault with others. We could even raise our egos up to extreme levels. It’s also easy to slip in the mode of just putting the blame on others for everything that we do and thinking we are great. It’s part of our bias.  We use the self-serving bias often to make ourselves feel better.  We also put into play the Fundamental Attribution Error whene things that are bothering us internally can be judge differently by others.  I liked this example: If you get angry because money on your bank account is gone and look like your raging, someone who is observing you will probably think there are internal attributions that cause you to do that, like an easy temper. In reality, you could be a calm and caring person who’s having a bad day. It shows to me how fast we are to judge or make excuses for ourselves and others.  Every day the attributions we make can influence feelings and the way we act ourselves, they can also influence others.  Let’s be wise in how we use our attribution tendencies.

Sources:

https://video.byui.edu/media/05+Attributional+Tendencies+in+Cultures/0_u45682wd

https://wattersattribution.wordpress.com/