Attribution Theory

Like with most things, in order to make money, we first need to get our minds working correctly.

One model that I find very useful when trying to understand human behaviour (including my own) is Attribution Theory. The theoretical framework for this theory was developed by Weiner in the early 80s. To grossly oversimplify the theory and framework (those of you that would like to go more indepth on this can find a wealth of articles with a simple Google search), the Attribution Theory states that our actions and results are determined by the explanations that we attach to the events in our lives.

Any result that we get, whether good or bad, we can attribute either to internal or external factors.

Internal Factors , as their name implies are factors that are inherent to who we are, they include such things as our abilities, moods, personality and the amount of effort expanded. A lot of those can be under our control.

  External Factors include such things as the difficulty of the task, luck and so on. They tend to be not under our control.

Research has shown that people who tend to attribute failure or success to things that are under their control (e.g. the amount of effort expanded) tend to become more successful in their tasks, while those that attribute events to things outside their control (e.g. luck, inherent ability, etc) tend not to do so well, possibly because they do not see a way to improve.

In terms of making money (which is the point of this site), this can also be seen. When a project fails to preform to your expectations, you can blame it on factors outside your control (the market, bad luck, the fact that you are “just no good at this”) , which, while it will make you feel a bit better about yourself, will also mean that you will remain stuck.

You can also chose to learn from the experience and accept the things you have done worng (I should have done more research, I should have invested more time…). By this, I do not mean wallowing in self pity, or deciding that you are worthless, just acknowledging what happened and doing things differently.

Interestingly enough, attributing success to internal factors beyond your control (ability, intelligence, etc…) can also have a positive impact on future performance (if you decide that the reason you succeeded at something is your own brilliance, you would tend to work harder next time, in order to preserve your self-opinion)…

Some people are afraid that they will get arrogant if they chose to believe that their successes stem from their inherent greatness. for some people this could be a problem, but the vast majority of us need every boost to our self-esteem that we can get.

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35 Responses to 'Attribution Theory'

  1. KCLau - September 4th, 2007 at 4:05 pm

    Just learn this attribution theory from you. Thanks for explaining it here and submitted it to my Personal Finance Money Tips carnival.

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  3. Kyle - September 4th, 2007 at 8:26 pm

    I like this theory a lot. If you focus on this theory you have a better understanding of the things that are in your power to change and things that you cannot change and thus should not waste any time on.

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  5. Jay - September 5th, 2007 at 4:44 am

    This is a very good way of looking at everything you do in life. The “victim” mentality is all too common these days.

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  12. YC - September 7th, 2007 at 7:14 pm

    This is a fantastic post - so many people nowadays prefer to blame luck and wallow in self-pity, instead of realising that they have choices and many things are within their control.

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  16. Stephanie - September 9th, 2007 at 3:05 am

    Good explanation. Personal responsibility seems to be lacking anymore. Making mistakes and learning is how we grow!

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  33. John - January 14th, 2008 at 5:07 pm

    This attribution theory makes a lot of sense and I personally like ti a lot. Focusing on it lets you have a you have a better understanding of the things that are in your power.

  34. Bev Mans - April 25th, 2008 at 12:39 pm

    Mindset is very important when it comes to your success - keeping a positive attitude and it will reflect in all that you do.

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