A self-presentation approach to the fundamental attribution error: The norm of internality.

Abstract

Several studies were designed to assess the validity of the assumption of a general norm placing greater value on internal explanations for behavior than on external explanations for behavior. One study demonstrated that individuals who expressed internal causal attributions received more social approval than those who expressed external causal attributions. A second study, in which subjects rated themselves as giving more internal explanations for events than average others do, also demonstrated the greater positive value associated with internal attributions. In a third study, subjects given the injunction to create a positive impression described themselves as having a stronger bias toward internal attributions than did subjects given the injunction to create a negative impression. The implications of the norm for internality are discussed in relation to the fundamental attribution error (observers' preference for internal attributions when explaining the behavior of others) and in relation to a general self-presentation approach to publicly stated attributions. The implications of this approach are outlined for the actor-observer effect and for social psychological theories. Much of the burgeoning literature on at