Nisbett and Borgida's failure to obtain effects for consensus information on person versus situation attributions was questioned regarding their operationalization of consensus. Nisbett and Borgida's finding was replicated, but an operationalization of consensus designed to reflect Kelley's conceptual criterion of perceived covariation and to represent more levels of consensus resulted in significant consensus effects on person versus situation attributions In Study 2, consensus information was found to affect specific traits judged to be relevant to the given behavior. In addition, the second study found significant effects for consensus information on the subjects' predictions of target persons' behavior. Included were discussions of (a) issues regarding operationalization of the consensus variable, (b) issues regarding operationalization of dependent variables in consensus research, and (c) the relationship between consensus research in the area of attribution and base-rate research in the area of the psychology of prediction (Kahneman & Tversky).In his influential attribution statement, Kelley (1967) proposed that individuals explain their own and others' behavior in a

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This article introduces the Journal of Personality's special issue on coping and personality. It first presents a historical overview of the psychological study of how people cope with stress and identifies three generations of theory and research: (a) the psychoanalysts and the ego development school, which tended to equate personality and coping strategies; (b) the transactional approach, which appeared in the 1960s and emphasized situational and cognitive influences on coping while downplaying the role of individual differences; and (c) the most recent, "third generation," whose work is represented in this special issue and focuses on the role of personality in coping while maintaining strong operational distinctions among coping, personality, appraisal, and adaptational outcomes. This introduction concludes with a discussion of unresolved conceptual and methodological issues and a brief orientation to the third-generation articles that follow in this special issue.

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A sense of coherence (SOC) has been found to be a strong predictor of health outcomes and life satisfaction in older adults. This study investigated mood and immune effects of anticipated voluntary housing relocation in 30 healthy older adults and 28 age-matched controls and examined whether SOC would buffer effects of relocation on natural killer (NK) cell activity. Movers completed assessments and had blood drawn 1 month before relocation to congregate living facilities; controls were assessed concurrently. Compared with the control group, movers showed decreased positive mood and NK activity and elevated thought intrusion. Positive mood mediated the relationship of moving with NK activity, whereas SOC moderated this relationship. Low SOC movers had the poorest NK activity; that of high SOC movers was less compromised. These findings are consistent with possible salutogenic contributions of SOC and positive mood to immune function in older adults facing stressful life transitions.

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An analysis of the role of attribution in major illness and serious injury is presented. Evidence reviewed includes the impact of illness variables on attributions, the association between attributions and adjustment to illness, and the proposed mechanisms of this association. Illness and injury characteristics such as severity and time since diagnosis appear to relate to attributional activity and content, but the association between attributions and psychological or physical adjustment is weak. Overall, it would appear that the attribution construct can describe individuals' reactions to life-threatening illness or injury. However, the utility of attribution in understanding the processes involved in adjustment to illness has not yet been demonstrated.