Does the distinction between causal and moral responsibility really salvage the defensive attribution hypothesis?: A critique of Nogami and Streufert's thesis

Nogami and Streufert's (1983) thesis, that the distinction between causal and moral responsibility accounts for contradictory data in the defensive attribution literature, is criticized on empirical and conceptual grounds. It is argued that the results reported may be idiosyncratic to their study given the procedures they used. Moreover, close examination reveals several problems in using their results to account for previous contradictory research findings.     

Alcohol and Acquaintance Rape in Australia: Testing the Presupposition Model of Attributions About Responsibility and Blame1

According to the presupposition model of attributions about responsibility and blame (Bradbury & Fincham, 1990), an attribution of blame presupposes an attribution of responsibility. Both constructs share the dimensions of choice, intention, and accountability, but an additional dimension of liability relates only to blame. Reactions of 260 university students to acquaintance‐rape scenarios portraying different levels of alcohol intoxication were examined. Results showed that the model's dimensions explained much of the variance in attributions of responsibility and blame, although the hierarchical structure was not supported. Mediational analyses suggest that different attributional principles apply when assigning victim and perpetrator responsibility, which may explain why intoxicated victims are assigned more responsibility than sober victims, but intoxicated perpetrators are assigned less responsibility than sober perpetrators.     

Memory failures appraisal in younger and older adults: role of individual difference and event outcome variables

The authors examined the role of individual difference and event outcome variables in younger and older adults' memory failures appraisal. Participants read vignettes that described fictitious younger characters (in their 20s-30s) or older characters (in their 60s-70s) who had experienced a minor or severe consequence of their forgetfulness. The authors solicited attribution ratings on the potential causes of the forgetfulness and memory opinion ratings. Younger and older adults' ratings were largely similar, although age differences occurred on the effort and luck attribution scales. The consequences of the forgetting had a sizable impact on both the attribution and memory opinion ratings. Individual differences in self-reported memory had a relatively small impact on causal attribution and memory opinion ratings. These results suggested that people weigh their judgments of fictitious forgetful characters against event outcomes more so than ageist beliefs that portray a negative image of cognitive competence in later life.     

Graphic Representations of Processing Structure: The Time-Event Matrix

Science-wide complexity theory presents strange attractors as lawful outcomes of nonlinear functions. The time-event matrices used by Streufert and associates to depict human information processing in complex task environments have similar characteristics. The use and construction of these matrices is described. The technique may be useful across sciences to depict the consequences of complex phenomena.     

The increased construct validity and clinical utility of assessing relationship quality using separate positive and negative dimensions

The Positive and Negative Quality in Marriage Scale (F. D. Fincham & K. J. Linfield, 1997) is a self-report measure that separately assesses positive and negative dimensions of relationship quality. Fincham and Linfield found that ratings of positive and negative marital quality accounted for unique variance in maladaptive attributions and self-reports of dyadic behavior beyond that accounted for by the Marital Adjustment Test (H. J. Locke & K. M. Wallace, 1959), a widely used measure of marital quality that combines these dimensions. The current study expanded on these findings using a different measure of relationship quality and observed dyadic behavior with a sample of engaged couples (N=43). The results indicate that a two-dimensional approach to measuring self-evaluations of relationship quality is more informative than a one-dimensional approach during the engagement period.     

The Trait of Curiosity as a Predictor of Emotional Intelligence1

This study examined the relationship between curiosity and emotional intelligence (EI) in a sample of graduate and undergraduate students in business administration courses (N = 312). To determine the nature of this relationship, curiosity was assessed using the Melbourne Curiosity Index (MCI; Naylor, 1981 ) and the Curiosity and Exploration Inventory (CEI; Kashdan, Rose, & Fincham, 2004 ). Emotional intelligence was measured using the Trait Meta‐Mood Scale (TMMS; Salovey, Mayer, Goldman, Turvey, & Palfai, 1995 ). The results indicate that there is a significant relationship between trait curiosity and emotional intelligence. Curiosity [has been] conceptualized as a positive emotional‐motivation system associated with the recognition, pursuit, and self‐regulation of novelty and challenge. ( Kashdan, Rose, & Fincham, 2004 , p. 291)     

The impact of event vividness,event severity,and prior paranormal belief on attributions towards a depicted remarkable coincidence experience: Two studies examining the misattribution hypothesis

Two studies examine the impact event vividness, event severity, and prior paranormal belief has on causal attributions for a depicted remarkable coincidence experience. In Study 1, respondents (n = 179) read a hypothetical vignette in which a fictional character accurately predicts a plane crash 1 day before it occurs. The crash was described in either vivid or pallid terms with the final outcome being either severe (fatal) or non‐severe (non‐fatal). Respondents completed 29 causal attribution items, one attribution confidence item, nine scenario perception items, a popular paranormal belief scale, and a standard demographics questionnaire. Principal axis factoring reduced the 29 attribution items to four attribution factors which were then subjected to a 2 (event vividness) × 2 (event severity) × 2 (paranormal belief) MANCOVA controlling for respondent gender. As expected, paranormal believers attributed the accurate crash prediction less to coincidence and more to both paranormal and transcendental knowing than did paranormal sceptics. Furthermore, paranormal (psychokinesis) believers deemed the prediction more reflective of paranormal knowing to both (1) a vivid/non‐fatal and (2) a pallid/fatal crash depiction. Vividness, severity, and paranormal belief types had no impact on attribution confidence. In Study 2, respondents (also n = 179) generated data that were a moderately good fit to the previous factor structure and replicated several differences across attributional pairings albeit for paranormal non‐believers only. Corresponding effects for event severity and paranormal belief were not replicated. Findings are discussed in terms of their support for the paranormal misattribution hypothesis and the impact of availability biases in the form of both vividness and severity effects. Methodological issues and future research ideas are also discussed.     

The Trait of Curiosity as a Predictor of Emotional Intelligence

This study examined the relationship between curiosity and emotional intelligence (EI) in a sample of graduate and undergraduate business administration students. Curiosity was assessed using the Melbourne Curiosity Inventory ( Naylor, 1981 ) and the Curiosity and Exploration Inventory ( Kashdan, Rose, & Fincham, 2004 ), and EI was measured using the Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS; Salovey, Mayer, Goldman, Turvey, & Palfai, 1995 ). Results indicate a significant relationship between trait curiosity and EI. Relationships between the subscales of the 3 measures are also reported. Stepwise regression analysis indicates that trait curiosity and absorption curiosity were the best predictors of total EI; while absorption curiosity was the best predictor of attention to emotions, clarity of emotions, and repair of emotions.

Curiosity [has been] conceptualized as a positive emotional-motivation system associated with the recognition, pursuit, and self-regulation of novelty and challenge. ( Kashdan, Rose, & Fincham, 2004 , p. 291)

     

Parallel lines in life,divergent lines in science: Complexity encompasses different worlds

This paper has two major parts. The first recounts the beginning and growth of the friendship between Siegfried Streufert and Peter Suedfeld, who in the mid-1960s were graduate students in Harold M. Schroder's social psychology laboratory at Princeton University. Each continued to develop a different line of theory and research on cognitive aspects of personality and social psychology while maintaining their contacts and friendship. The second part describes the background, characteristics, and applications of the integrative complexity (IC) work of Peter Suedfeld and his collaborators and students.     

The leader effect and behavioral complexity

This paper reviews research into the impact that leaders have on performance outcomes and into the identification of behavioral competencies associated with superior leadership effectiveness. The review indicates that around twenty percent of performance outcomes may be attributed to leaders depending on the level of discretion they exercise. Eleven High-Performance Competencies (H-PC) are identified that appear associated with the leader effect; several of these H-PC derive from Behavioral Complexity Theory as developed and explored by Professor Siegfried Streufert and his colleagues.     

Self-blame among parents of infants with perinatal complications: the role of self-protective motives

According to the literature on defensive attribution, behavioral self-blame can bolster a sense of personal efficacy and is more likely to occur when victims perceive their misfortune as severe. In this study, mothers of infants with severe perinatal complications rated the severity of their child's condition, were asked about its causes, and completed a measure of emotional adaptation. As predicted according to the defensive attribution hypothesis, behavioral self-blame was associated with greater perceived severity and preventability of recurrence. The pattern of correlations suggests that greater perceived severity may produce greater self-blame, which in turn may play an indirect role in adaptation through its association with the belief that a recurrence could be prevented. Results of a post hoc path analysis were consistent with this hypothesis. These findings are discussed in terms of the adaptive features of behavioral self-blame, its relation to perceived control, methodological issues in the study of coping with victimization, and implications for helping professionals.     

Self-serving bias in the attribution of responsibility: Cognitive versus motivational explanations

The purpose of this study is to compare the cognitive and motivational explanations of differences in the responsibility assigned to the victim of a crime. It has generally been found that the victim of a crime is assigned more responsibility for that crime by similar others if its consequences are severe. The motivational explanation for this finding is that subjects are threatened by the idea that a serious crime can happen by chance. The cognitive explanation is that serious crimes are rarer and subjects attribute more of the responsibility for rarer events to those who experience them. This study tested these two explanations by independently varying the severity and the likelihood of a crime and examining attributions of responsibility to its victim. The results of the study support the cognitive explanation. Similar others were found to attribute more responsibility for a crime to the victim when that crime was presented as rare, irrespective of whether its consequences were mild or severe. In addition, when likelihood was controlled experimentally no effect of severity upon attributions of responsibility was found. These results suggest that, within the context of attributions of responsibility to victims, patterns of attribution consistent with those predicted by theories suggesting motivational influences upon attribution may actually represent the operation of cognitive processes.     

On necessity and commonsense: A discussion of central axioms in new approaches to lay explanation

Recent critical attempts to modify or replace attribution theory have focused particularly on two issues: the relationship of the reason—cause distinction to attribution theories and actor/observer differences in attribution, and the emphasis in attribution theories on inferential, as opposed to self-presentational, processes. In dealing with these two issues, some critics also point out ethnocentric and ideological influences on attribution theories. The issues raised are important, as both intentional (reason) explanations and self-presentational factors have been under-represented in attribution theories. But the new attempts to build these factors into theories of lay explanation are not wholly satisfactory. Authors make several stipulations about reasons and causes that are unsupportable, and they employ arguments about differences between actors and observers that are unsatisfactory in other respects. Nonetheless a number of their claims can be reconceptualized and supported by using definitions and parameters that do not confound the variables being examined. Claims that attribution theories have ignored self-presentational factors underestimate the extent to which self-presentational factors are being examined in attribution studies, but the proposition that self-presentational factors account for most aspects of explanations is unconvincing. Authors are also mistaken to assume that ethnocentric or ideological factors are particular to attribution theories. The errors, exaggerations and other difficulties in the authors' arguments do not nullify the attempt to expand or transcend attribution theory. Where flaws in the arguments are pointed out, alternative ways of tackling the same issues are referred to or proposed.     

行为责任归因与批评程度的关系

选取171名进修教师和大学生被试探讨行为责任归因与批评程度之间的内在联系。研究发现;(1)内在的可控的稳定的失败原因引起最高责任推断和最严重批评决定;内在的不可控的不稳定的原因与最低责任和批评程度相联系。(2)控制性维度和责任与批评程度的关系密切。(3)从总体上说责任和批评程度的变化趋势相似。(4)教师特别是女教师对批评方法的使用更为慎重。     

Dimensions of Perfectionism and Levels of Attributions for Grades: Relations with Dysphoria and Academic Performance

The current study examined associations between dimensions of perfectionism, levels of attributions for a self-identified problem with marks, and dysphoria and course final grade in university students (253 women; 125 men). Our study revealed several significant findings: (1) perfectionism and levels of attribution are distinct yet related constructs; (2) socially prescribed perfectionism and specific levels of attribution both accounted for unique variance in dysphoria; (3) there were significant gender differences with respect to the relations among perfectionism dimensions, levels of attribution, and dysphoria; (4) self-oriented perfectionism and specific levels of attribution both accounted for unique variance in final grade, but in men only; (5) interactions between perfectionism dimensions and levels of attribution did not augment the prediction of dysphoria or academic performance; (6) self-oriented perfectionism is possibly adaptive under some circumstances. Implications for treating perfectionists and for further research are discussed.     

人际责任推断与行为应对策略的归因分析

探讨人际责任归因与行为应对策略之间的内在联系。376名被试参与了此项研究。结果表明：(1)内在的可控的失败原因引起最高责任推断、最高程度的责备和最低程度的安慰;相反,内在的不可控的稳定的原因与最低责任、最低责备以及最高程度的安慰相联系。(2)责任归因与责备和安慰之间的数量化关系通过结构方程模型得以确定。(3)女大学生更倾向于对失败行为作可以控制的归因;在行为反应上,教师或管理者更倾向于使用安慰策略     

Launching a new journal: Fifty years of the journal of applied social psychology

This paper describes the background and the process leading to the 1970–1971 launch of the Journal of Applied Social Psychology. In the late 1960s, founding editor Dr. Siegfried Streufert had a deep belief in the need to create an outlet for excellent research addressing applications of social psychology to “real-world” problems. He looked forward to marking this milestone year of publication of JASP with this article. Sadly, Siegfried passed away in April 2019, 50 years after developing and implementing the concept for the journal. We present the history as he wrote it, with some editing, in his honor.     

ATTRIBUTIONS TO FAILURE: THE EFFECTS OF EFFORT,ABILITY, AND LEARNING STRATEGY USE ON PERCEPTIONS OF FUTURE GOALS AND EMOTIONAL RESPONSES

This study sought to examine college students' attributions to failure in biology. Through the use of scenarios, we were interested in determining how males and females viewed the attributions of ability, effort, and learning strategy use. A 3 (attribution: ability, effort, strategies) 2 2 (scenario gender) 2 2 (respondent gender) factorial design was used to analyze four future goal statements and four emotional response statements. Results indicated a significant effect for attribution for three of the four future goal items, with participants believing most strongly that future goals could be met if the scenario student used the appropriate strategies. There was also a significant effect for attribution for all four of the emotional response items, with participants having the strongest emotional reaction when the attribution was to effort. Respondent gender interacted with attribution only on one emotional response item. Collectively these results indicate differences in patterns of responses between future goal and emotional items. Moreover,these results are important for learning-to-learn courses designed to teach effective strategy use.     

The causal influences of attributions on emotions: a procedural priming approach

According to attributional theories of emotion, feelings of guilt presuppose that the causes of a negative event are located within the individual (internal attribution), whereas feelings of anger presuppose that the causes of the eliciting event are located outside the individual (external attribution). This study tested whether these attributions in fact exert the claimed causal influence on emotional experiences. The study employed a procedural priming technique in which neutral events were repeatedly attributed either to oneself (internal attribution) or to another person (external attribution). Subsequently, participants were exposed to a negative event that was ambiguous as to its causes. The results reveal that the prior repeated use of internal attributions enhanced the tendency to experience guilt, whereas the repeated use of external attributions enhanced the tendency to experience anger. These findings support the assumption that attributions exert a causal influence on emotions.