What is Attribution Theory in Organizational Behaviour is?

Attribution theory is a theory of social psychology that deals with how individuals relate to the behavior of those around them in a social world. They do so by attributing certain beliefs and intentions to these behaviors. In simple words, it is simply the translation of events by the people and how this translation affects their thinking processes. Various assignment writing service explain the attribution theory, as the theory which explains the causes behind the actions of other people to control their behavior of themselves.

• WHAT IS SOCIAL PERCEPTION:

It is an ability to make inferences about other persons based on their appearance, verbal communication, and gestures. Even the voice and tone are great players in conspiring with each other to give a perception to other people about what is going to be done next and what thought processes of that particular individual are going to work.

• STAGES OF ATTRIBUTION THEORY:

Attribution is a three-stage process in understanding organizational behavior. These stages are discussed below.

• PERCEPTION:

This is the first step in attribution theory in which the observer perceives the behavior of him and the others. It is simply the observation of others’ behaviors.

• JUDGMENT:

This is the second step in which the observer makes a judgment about the intentions of others whether these actions were being performed intentionally or unintentionally.

• ASCRIPTION:

The step in which the cause of the action is attributed to either situation or the other person’s actions is called an ascription.

• FACTORS AFFECTING THE ATTRIBUTION THEORY:

There are certain stages through which attribution theory passes and certain factors upon which it depends which need discussion. These factors can be internal or external depending upon the situation.

• INTERNAL FACTORS:

The internal factors are those factors that depend upon the person who is being observed. These factors can be controlled by the observer. It can be explained by taking an example under consideration. If a colleague of a person gets a promotion and the observer attributes this promotion to the hard work and dedication of the promoted one. Then this is called attribution to the internal cause for his promotion. Internal attribution is also called dispositional attribution.

• EXTERNAL FACTORS:

The existence of external factors is outside the person who is being observed. These factors cannot be controlled by individuals. It can be explained by considering an example of a colleague of an individual who gets a promotion. If that individual attributes this promotion to luck, as the father of the promoted one is the owner of the company, then this is called the attribution to the external factors as the cause of this promotion. The external factors attribution is also called situational attribution.

• POINTS TO PONDER:

After careful consideration and lots of consultation with experts in psychology (pes-admin, 2021) it is important to mention the following points in detail.

• FACTORS:

When attribution theory is applied in the assessment of organizational behavior it is imperative to consider what is actually causing the behavior of certain individuals in an organizational setup. These causes can either be from within the individual or totally existing outside the individual being considered. In the case of external factors or while dealing with other people, the creativity of an induvial is a great play when one considers the situation from an attribution theory perspective.

• CONSISTENCY OR DISTINCTIVENESS:

Secondly, it is also crucial to know that the behavior of an individual follows consistency when met with similar circumstances or not. If a person is having similar behavior under similar circumstances then the consistency in behavior is say to be high.

On the other hand, if an individual follows similar patterns of behavior under different circumstances the distinctiveness is said to be low. While if a person is behaving differently in different circumstances, then he is believe to be having high distinctiveness.

• CONSENSUS:

Consensus is the degree to which the action of an individual observes similarity. It is said to be high if the actions of a person are similar to those actions which are observe by the person under similar circumstances and vice versa.

• IMPORTANCE IN ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR:

The attributional theory has widespread importance in many ways. One such importance is in the management of organizational behavior. A student may order assignment online regarding the importance of this theory in the management of organizational behavior.

Managers in organizations use this theory to interpret the behavior of employees and in this way, they can assist the employees in understanding their behaviors themselves. This helps the employees in understanding the behavior of others and the organization as well. Indeed, HR scholars have recently realized that understanding the process by which individuals explain the causes of behaviors and events provides insight into a host of HR-related issues (Hewett, 2017)

• UTILITY OF SELF-CONCEPT:

Self-concept basically means the ability of an individual to notice the traits in other individuals. A positive self-concept person notices the positive imputes in other persons. While a negative self-concept individual is likely to choose the negative traits in an individual, unlike the other one.

A person who has a great command over these self-concepts can make an accurate perception of other people. Usually, organizations hire at least one person in their team who bears these traits, with a high level of social perception. This is done so as the person with the expertise in attribution theory is able to increase the overall performance of an organization. The attribution theory develops a collective intelligence crucial to the overall improvement in the outlook of an organization.

• CONNOTATION FOR A MANAGER:

A manager can turn perception into motivation to the advantage of an organization. It means that a manager finds out the cause of demotivation in an employee. He is then able to modify that thing in such a way so as to alter the perception of employees to some extent.

Secondly, the manager can modify the policies which are not complex and weak. This will avoid problems in business culture as employees would adjust accordingly by bringing perception close to the truth due to handling these policies on daily basis.

CONCLUSION:

Attribution theory can be of great help in the management of organizational behavior. It organizes and interprets the information gained through the senses.

Bibliography

Hewett, S. a. (2017, September 20). Attribution theories in Human Resource Management research: a review and research agenda. The International Journal of Human Resource management. Pes-admin. (2021, March 19). Top 10 Psychology Dissertation Topics And Ideas. https://www.professionalessayservice.co.uk/top-10-psychology-dissertation-topics-and-ideas/.