Internality attribution and intergroup relations

Abstract

In two studies, subjects filled out a questionnaire requiring them to choose between internal and external explanations of desirable or undesirable events. They were also asked to fill out the same questionnaire from another person's point of view, either a member of the ingroup or a member of the outgroup. The first study used students as subjects and the events were about student life. The second study used employees for subjects and the events were about the working world. As predicted on the basis of internality norm theory, internal explanations were generally found to be chosen more often when the respondent or imagined respondent was said to be a worthy person. The internality scores were the highest for oneself and for the ingroup member, regardless of the desirability of the events; they were the lowest for the outgroup member. These internality attribution effects do not seem to stem from the well‐known ingroup‐favouring attributions (ultimate attribution error). Hence, the internality norm construct, irrespective of event desirability, provides a new pathway for exploring the evaluative effects of intergroup relations. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Normativity and self‐presentation

“…Several studies with the judge paradigm have shown that internal profiles are always appreciated more than self-serving profiles, even by judges who themselves have adopted self-serving self-presentation strategies (Beauvois, 1995;Dubois, 1998). Other studies using the identification paradigm have shown that internal explanations are more often attributed to members of prestigious groups, whether they fail or succeed, than to members of undermined groups[11] (Beauvois et al, 1998). Needless to say, in cases where failures have to be explained, the questionnaires used in these studies do not activate stigmatizing internal explanations.…”

Normativity and self‐presentation

“…Several studies with the judge paradigm have shown that internal profiles are always appreciated more than self-serving profiles, even by judges who themselves have adopted self-serving self-presentation strategies (Beauvois, 1995;Dubois, 1998). Other studies using the identification paradigm have shown that internal explanations are more often attributed to members of prestigious groups, whether they fail or succeed, than to members of undermined groups[11] (Beauvois et al, 1998). Needless to say, in cases where failures have to be explained, the questionnaires used in these studies do not activate stigmatizing internal explanations.…”

Social utility, social desirability and scholastic judgments: Toward a personological model of academic evaluation

“…It also hypothesizes that the more a pupil is perceived as being useful, the more the teacher will perceive him/her as being internal. This last hypothesis is supported by studies on internality-norm theory conducted in intergroup contexts (Beauvois, Gilibert, Pansu, & Abdelaoui, 1998;Dubois, Beauvois, Gilibert, & Zentner, 2000), which have shown that individuals assign more social value to ingroup members than to outgroup members by attributing them more internality. Finally, this last alternative model assumes that pupils' internality when responding under standard instructions influences the teacher's average judgment (Bressoux & Pansu, 1998.…”

Backlash Effect on Highly Skilled North African Males Seeking Professional Advancement in France

“…This leads us to the conclusion that European applicants are expected to mainly use internal attribution, whereas this would be unexpected in North African applicants, given that it is not congruent with their stigmatized position. It would be counterstereotypical for North African applicants to use internal attribution in France, as they belong to a minority group, and internality is associated with the dominant group and externality is associated with the minority group (Beauvois et al, 1998; Pansu et al, 2005). We expected the backlash effect to partially explain hiring discrimination toward this group.…”

Normativity and self‐presentation

“…Several studies with the judge paradigm have shown that internal profiles are always appreciated more than self-serving profiles, even by judges who themselves have adopted self-serving self-presentation strategies (Beauvois, 1995;Dubois, 1998). Other studies using the identification paradigm have shown that internal explanations are more often attributed to members of prestigious groups, whether they fail or succeed, than to members of undermined groups[11] (Beauvois et al, 1998). Needless to say, in cases where failures have to be explained, the questionnaires used in these studies do not activate stigmatizing internal explanations.…”

Social utility, social desirability and scholastic judgments: Toward a personological model of academic evaluation

“…It also hypothesizes that the more a pupil is perceived as being useful, the more the teacher will perceive him/her as being internal. This last hypothesis is supported by studies on internality-norm theory conducted in intergroup contexts (Beauvois, Gilibert, Pansu, & Abdelaoui, 1998;Dubois, Beauvois, Gilibert, & Zentner, 2000), which have shown that individuals assign more social value to ingroup members than to outgroup members by attributing them more internality. Finally, this last alternative model assumes that pupils' internality when responding under standard instructions influences the teacher's average judgment (Bressoux & Pansu, 1998.…”

Backlash Effect on Highly Skilled North African Males Seeking Professional Advancement in France

“…This leads us to the conclusion that European applicants are expected to mainly use internal attribution, whereas this would be unexpected in North African applicants, given that it is not congruent with their stigmatized position. It would be counterstereotypical for North African applicants to use internal attribution in France, as they belong to a minority group, and internality is associated with the dominant group and externality is associated with the minority group (Beauvois et al, 1998; Pansu et al, 2005). We expected the backlash effect to partially explain hiring discrimination toward this group.…”

Normativity and self‐presentation

“…Several studies with the judge paradigm have shown that internal profiles are always appreciated more than self-serving profiles, even by judges who themselves have adopted self-serving self-presentation strategies (Beauvois, 1995;Dubois, 1998). Other studies using the identification paradigm have shown that internal explanations are more often attributed to members of prestigious groups, whether they fail or succeed, than to members of undermined groups[11] (Beauvois et al, 1998). Needless to say, in cases where failures have to be explained, the questionnaires used in these studies do not activate stigmatizing internal explanations.…”

Social utility, social desirability and scholastic judgments: Toward a personological model of academic evaluation

“…It also hypothesizes that the more a pupil is perceived as being useful, the more the teacher will perceive him/her as being internal. This last hypothesis is supported by studies on internality-norm theory conducted in intergroup contexts (Beauvois, Gilibert, Pansu, & Abdelaoui, 1998;Dubois, Beauvois, Gilibert, & Zentner, 2000), which have shown that individuals assign more social value to ingroup members than to outgroup members by attributing them more internality. Finally, this last alternative model assumes that pupils' internality when responding under standard instructions influences the teacher's average judgment (Bressoux & Pansu, 1998.…”

Backlash Effect on Highly Skilled North African Males Seeking Professional Advancement in France

“…This leads us to the conclusion that European applicants are expected to mainly use internal attribution, whereas this would be unexpected in North African applicants, given that it is not congruent with their stigmatized position. It would be counterstereotypical for North African applicants to use internal attribution in France, as they belong to a minority group, and internality is associated with the dominant group and externality is associated with the minority group (Beauvois et al, 1998; Pansu et al, 2005). We expected the backlash effect to partially explain hiring discrimination toward this group.…”