Why Is It…?

“Why Is It…?” was designed by Dr. Steiner to address readers’ questions about human behavior from a social psychological perspective in order to inform and stimulate dialogue about the ways in which our thoughts, feelings and behaviors are influenced by the presence of other people. Dr. Steiner holds a Ph.D. in Applied Social Psychology. In addition to working as a university professor over the last 15 years, she conducts individual and group consultations in matters of social relationships and behavior. Readers are invited to submit their questions anonymously in one paragraph or less to Dr. Steiner at [email protected].

Q: Why is it…that some people never seem to take responsibility for their actions?

I am curious about something. Whenever my brother-in-law does something wrong, he never seems to take responsibility for it, but when things turns out well, he is the first one to grab the credit. Why would someone be so quick to take responsibility for good outcomes but make excuses when things don’t turn out right?

A: The situation that you’ve described is a very common pattern in human behavior and can be explained by the process of what we call styles of attribution. People engage in making attributions whenever they are trying to determine the “cause” of a certain behavior or outcome.

There are basically two types of attributions we can render – personal or situational. If we attribute a behavior to a personal cause, we conclude that it is something internal to the person’s character or personality that led to the behavior in question. Personal attributions assume that the person was in control of their actions and that their effort (or lack of) led to the outcome.

The second type of attribution is situational. In these cases, we conclude that the behavior or outcome was caused by something external to the person involved and that it was beyond their ability to control. Here, it is not so much the person’s character that is at issue, but rather the circumstances that led to a given outcome. Situational attributions focus on “the luck of the draw,” rather than the degree of effort someone has put forth.

For example, let’s say that an employer is trying to determine why an employee was late for work. If the employer makes a personal attribution for tardiness, he/she might conclude that it was due to a lack of motivation or discipline (making the employee blameworthy). On the other hand, if the employee states that they were late due to a flat tire or snow storm, the cause of tardiness will be attributed to the situation instead (something beyond the personal control of the employee), with no personal blame attached.

While we are constantly making personal or situational attributions for other people’s behavior, we also typically make attributions for our own behavior, as well. The trouble is, we frequently make errors in judgment, especially where our own actions are concerned. Because humans like to think of themselves in the best possible light, we will often make situational attributions for poor outcomes, but make personal attributions when things turn out well (taking all the credit), as in the case of your brother-in-law.

Once in a while, I play a basketball video game with my husband. He is a talented basketball player (on the real court as well as the virtual one). Without question, he has more skills than I do. But every so often, I manage to beat him at the video game. When he wins, he brags and boasts about his skillful victory – claiming a personal attribution for his success. But, when I win, he always claims that he lost because there was something wrong with his game controller – casting his loss to a situational cause that was beyond his control. This error in judgment allows him to “make sense” of his loss in a way that protects his self-esteem and ego.

It is far easier for people to take personal credit for successes than it is to accept responsibility for failures – regardless of the objective reality. I would predict that, if confronted, your brother-in-law, much like my husband, would deny that his failures have anything to do with his personal abilities or character. This is just another example of how humans adjust their perceptions of reality to suit their needs.