Attribution Processes in Relationships

General Attribution Research: Judgments of Cause

Attribution researchers recognize that individuals' judgments of cause may be accurate to varying degrees. However, regardless of their accuracy in any objective sense, such causal explanations are ubiquitous in social interaction and have significant consequences for a wide range of social phenomena, including social relationships.

As a judgment of cause, attributions are frequently classified as either internal or external to an actor. This classification is also sometimes referred to as the distinction between dispositional or situational attributions, respectively. For example, within the context of relationships, one partner's apparently irritable mood may be explained by the other as resulting from a general disposition toward irritability, an internal or personal cause. Alternatively, the partner may more charitably explain this behavior with reference to some outside stressor, such as an unusually challenging day at work, an external or situational cause. Although the specific attribution may be more or less accurate in that given episode, the attribution generated by the partner can potentially influence the emotional reaction toward the other person, as well as subsequent behavioral interactions. The irritable mood explained away as the result of a “bad day” can be quickly forgotten and even excused. However, the irritable mood that is interpreted as symptomatic of a faulty or inherently difficult personality is less likely to be so quickly dismissed or excused. That particular attribution can potentially affect subsequent interactions between the couple or even engender doubt about whether the relationship should be maintained.

In addition to explaining a partner's specific behavior, the internal versus external (i.e., personal versus situation) distinction may also apply to judgments regarding an overall appraisal of the relationship's status. When evaluating one's relationship in a global sense, its apparent failure (or success) may be attributed to stable factors internal to a partner, such as flawed personality, or to factors external to the partner, such as stress brought on by economic challenges. This act of explanation has numerous potential consequences for a relationship in terms of the individuals' interpretation of a particular interaction, their emotional and behavioral reactions to that interaction, and their expectations for future interactions. These lay attributions of cause are therefore central to understanding the psychological processes that characterize relationships.

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