Dispositional attribution

Dispositional attribution (or internal attribution or personal attribution) is a phrase in personality psychology that refers to the tendency to assign responsibility for others' behaviors due to their inherent characteristics, such as their personality, beliefs, ability or personality, instead of attributing it to external (situational) influences such as the individual's environment or culture.[1]


When a person uses dispositional attributions,[2] they infer that another person is behaving in a certain way or that an event is occurring and try to explain that it is due to factors related to the person's character more than their situational context. Or rather, simplified, dispositional attribution is the act of placing blame on some type of factor or criteria that could be controlled by an individual for the cause of a certain event.[3]

  1. ^ "APA Dictionary of Psychology". dictionary.apa.org. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
  2. ^ "Internal Attribution." Education Portal. Education Portal, n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2014. <http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/internal-attribution-definition-examples-quiz.html#lesson>.
  3. ^ "What Is Internal Attribution? Definition and Meaning." BusinessDictionary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2014. <http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/internal-attribution.html Archived 2014-12-05 at the Wayback Machine>.