Attribution Theory and Research

Kelley, Harold H.; Michela, John L.

doi:10.1146/annurev.ps.31.020180.002325

Cited by 1,982 publications

(1,438 citation statements)

References 159 publications

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“…Attribution theory describes the way people make causal inferences to explain their own or others' behaviour (Heider, 1944;Kelley, 1973;Kelley and Michela, 1980). In marketing literature, this theory helps explain consumers' responses to product failures (Folkes, 1984;Dawar and Pillutla, 2000) and their evaluations of companies that engage in social sponsorship (Rifon et al, 2004) or cause-related marketing (Ellen et al, 2000;Dean, 2003;Sjovall and Talk, 2004), two forms of CSR engagements.…”

Section: Attribution Theory Sustainability Ratings and Company's Pementioning

confidence: 99%

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How Sustainability Ratings Might Deter ‘Greenwashing’: A Closer Look at Ethical Corporate Communication

2011

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ABSTRACT. Of the many ethical corporate marketing practices, many firms use corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication to enhance their corporate image. Yet consumers, overwhelmed by these more or less well-founded CSR claims often have trouble identifying truly responsible firms. This confusion encourages "greenwashing" and may make CSR initiatives less effective. On the basis of attribution theory, this study investigates the role of independent sustainability ratings on consumers' responses to companies' CSR communication. Experimental results indicate the negative effect of a poor sustainability rating for corporate brand evaluations in the case of CSR communication, because consumers infer less intrinsic motives by the brand. Sustainability ratings thus could act to deter "greenwashing" and encourage virtuous firms to persevere in their CSR practices.

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Section: Attribution Theory Sustainability Ratings and Company's Pementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous studies investigate the consequences of attributions (Kelley and Michela, 1980) and suggest that an attribution of a specific behaviour as intrinsically or extrinsically motivated influences attitudes toward the actor (Robertson and Rossiter, 1974;Folkes, 1984;Klein and Dawar, 2004). …”

Section: Perceived Motives and Corporate Brand Evaluationmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Sustainability Ratings Might Deter ‘Greenwashing’: A Closer Look at Ethical Corporate Communication

2011

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“…Most studies indicate a positive relationship between individuals' cancer-related risk perceptions and their attitudes, intentions, and actions regarding health protective and cancer preventive behaviors: if people consider cancer as controllable/preventable by their efforts they are more likely to seek medical care promptly, undergo cancer screening tests, or adopt healthy behaviors (Figueiras and Alves, 2007;Cameron, 2008;Sullivan et al, 2010). Attribution theory (Kelley and Michela, 1980) asserts causal attributions are central to determining how a person understands and interacts with the world.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hong Kong Chinese Women's Lay Beliefs about Cervical Cancer Causation and Prevention

Wang

Lam²,

Wu³

et al. 2014

Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention

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Background: This study aimed to seek insights into Chinese women's lay beliefs about cervical cancer causal attributions and prevention. Materials and Methods: Twenty-three new immigrant adult women from Mainland China and thirty-five Hong Kong adult women underwent semi-structured in-depth interviews. Interviews were audio taped, transcribed and analyzed using a Grounded Theory approach. Results: This study generated three foci: causal beliefs about cervical cancer, perceived risk of cervical cancer, and beliefs about cervical cancer prevention. Personal risky practices, contaminated food and environment pollution were perceived as the primary causes of cervical cancer. New immigrant women more likely attributed cervical cancer to external factors. Most participants perceived cervical cancer as an important common fatal female cancer with increased risk/prevalence. Many participants, particularly new immigrant women participants, expressed helplessness about cervical cancer prevention due to lack of knowledge of prevention, it being perceived as beyond individual control. Many new immigrant participants had never undergone regular cervical screening while almost all Hong Kong participants had done so. Conclusions: Some Chinese women hold pessimistic beliefs about cervical cancer prevention with inadequate knowledge about risk factors. Future cervical cancer prevention programs should provide more information and include capacity building to increase Chinese women's knowledge and self-efficacy towards cervical cancer prevention.

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“…Thus, it is often described as the study of perceived causality, with attribution referring to the perception or inference of cause (Fincham, 1983;Kelly & Michela, 1980). Attribution theory can help us understand behavior related to traffic safety.…”

Section: Attribution Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Matching Traffic Safety Strategies to Youth Characteristics: A Literature Review of Cognitive Development

Eby¹,

Molnar²

1998

PsycEXTRA Dataset

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In an effort to reduce the high crash rate and resulting injuries of young drivers, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has sponsored research to assess the factors responsible for this heightened crash risk and to determine the implications for traffic safety programs. As part of this research, this review of research literature was conducted to determine what is known about cognitive development and information processing capabilities of youth. The goal of the project was to ascertain how traffic safety programs should be structured to match these cognitive characteristics. The review is divided into 12 sections. This literature review focuses primarily on cognitive development from about 10 to 24 years of age. The first section is about memory; that is, the processes that allow a person to retain knowledge over time. The second section, attention, discusses the factors related to the development of how people focus cognitive resources on perceptual or mental tasks, including selective, divided, and sustained attention. The third section, learning, discusses the processes by which people acquire information. The fourth section, reasoning, discusses types of reasoning and the problems young people have with this type of thinking. The fifth section, motivation, examines the factors that initiate and influence the intensity of behaviors. The sixth section, is a discussion of the development of risk perception and factors that contribute to the misperception of risk. The seventh section discusses the development of problem solving and decision making in a general way. While influenced by all other cognitive factors and their age-related limitations, general deficits of problem solving and decision making ability are discussed. The eight section, social cognition, covers those topics in the development of social cognition that are likely to have an effect on driving: attribution theory and social schemata/scripts. The ninth section, attitude formation and change, discusses several factors related to attitudes and persuasion. The tenth section examines briefly the development of verbal ability, that is, all use of language. Because many traffic safety messages and programs deal with moral issues in driving, the AcknowledgmentsThis project was sponsored by the United States Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Several individuals provided valuable insight and feedback on this literature review. A group of talented people served as subject-matter experts. This group of experts suggested literature review topics and studies, read and commented on several versions of this manuscript, and participated in a 1-day meeting to discuss the issues involved with cognitive development and traffic safety messages and programs for youth. We thank them for their generous and worthwhile efforts. The people in this group were: Allen Bard, Douglas Bierness, Jacquelynne Eccles, John Hagen, Brian Jonah, Patrick O'Malley, John Palmer, David Rosen, J. Frank Yates, and Marc Z...

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Attribution Theory and Research

Cited by 1,982 publications

References 159 publications

How Sustainability Ratings Might Deter ‘Greenwashing’: A Closer Look at Ethical Corporate Communication

How Sustainability Ratings Might Deter ‘Greenwashing’: A Closer Look at Ethical Corporate Communication

Hong Kong Chinese Women's Lay Beliefs about Cervical Cancer Causation and Prevention

Matching Traffic Safety Strategies to Youth Characteristics: A Literature Review of Cognitive Development

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