The concept of attribution refers to assigning properties or indicating the competence of something.
Attribution is the act of attributing : indicating the competence of something, assigning qualities or properties to a thing or someone. If we analyze the etymology of the term, we must go to the Latin language and its word attributio .
The idea of attribution is usually used with respect to the powers that an entity has in accordance with the regulations that govern its operation. For example: “Budget control is a power of this commission,” “The direct hiring of employees is not a power of legislators,” “I have the power to suspend you and even fire you: I recommend that you start paying attention to my instructions if you don't want to have problems."
Attribution example
An attribution also consists of attributing a work or action to a person, stating that they are responsible. Many times attributions are made in the wrong way and wrongly point to the author in question.
Suppose that a journalist attributes the novel “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” written by the Colombian Gabriel García Márquez , to the Peruvian Mario Vargas Llosa . Upon noticing the error, another journalist comments: “You have made a mistake in the attribution: 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' is a book by García Márquez, not by Vargas Llosa.”
This type of error usually occurs with respect to old works, especially those that were written when the publishing world did not have a solid organization. In fact, in some cases the author cannot be pointed out with certainty, but rather it is deduced after in-depth research carried out by specialists who analyze both the literary style of the work and the historical context and the data they have on the writers of the time. .
Attribution theory emerged within the framework of social psychology.
The concept in social psychology
In the field of social psychology , the notion of attribution theory is used to refer to how human beings evaluate their behavior and the behavior of other individuals.
The main author of attribution theory was the psychologist Fritz Heider , who expressed it in his book entitled "The Psychology of Interpersonal Relationships" , where he presented it as a useful method to evaluate the aforementioned behavioral perception .
If we delve deeper into his theory, it is not only a way of studying the way in which we explain our behavior and that of others but also the events of life. This is what social psychology refers to with the idea of the attributional process ; In this context Heider explains that we tend to relate other people's behavior to one of two possible causes: external (the context, an act of a third party, chance, etc.) or internal (intelligence, personality, motivation, etc.) .).
Analysis of behavior according to attribution theory
Attribution theory recognizes the following elements:
- Internal or external locus : this is a property that Heider relates to our self-esteem. For example, people who make internal attributions for their own achievements gain self-esteem and motivation, while those who attribute their failures to personal issues suffer a considerable loss of self-esteem. The locus is considered external when the result does not depend on the subject, but is due to external factors;
- Stability : this concept refers to the subject's assessment of the state that the problem he or she faces presents over time. If you attribute your failure to issues that you consider stable, such as the difficulty of a study subject, your achievement motivation decreases;
- Controllability : in this case it does not matter how stable the problem is over time, but rather whether the subject has the possibility of controlling the factors related to it, whether or not they depend on his actions. For example, if someone attributes their failure to their supposed bad luck , then their achievement motivation decreases.