Snow Turtle
New member
- Joined
- May 28, 2007
- Messages
- 1,335
Attribution theory:
We all have a need to explain the world, both to ourselves and to other people, attributing cause to the events around us. This gives us a greater sense of control. When explaining behavior, it can affect the standing of people within a group (especially ourselves).
When another person has erred, we will often use internal attribution, saying it is due to internal personality factors. When we have erred, we will more likely use external attribution, attributing causes to situational factors rather than blaming ourselves. And vice versa. We will attribute our successes internally and the successes of our rivals to external ‘luck’.
I've noticed that there are some people here who don't do things because they dislike the said task. They would rather go off and do something else because it's more entertaining. At least I know that I engage in this behaviour, procrastinating on stuff until the deadline is close or already passed. Moving back to the subject matter.
In my situation, I've been assigning blame to external factors by thinking I dislike something therefore I will perform badly in it, or that there are unrelated problems elsewhere affecting things. I was thinking about asking the student welfare if there is the possability of getting a medical note explaining my failure to deliver work. Then it sort of hit me...
"Wait, Am I actually allowed to blame the course for my lack of delivery?"
Yes, there are reasons explaining why it probably happened. But does that really excuse the behaviour, or that somehow we're not 100% responsible. Unless there is a 'real' problem, if you don't like something but can do it and need to do it. You should.
Reminds me of the things occasionally thrown around: "That shouldn't matter or affect the situation." The extreme of this argument is that a stressed/sad person should be battle through regardless even they need to do so. And I'm not sure how I feel about that sort of thing.
It could be any form of external blame. Being provoked etc...
What do others think about this matter? And what stance do you hold for yourself?