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  • Essay / The effects of stress and personality on the formation...

    The effects of stress and personality on the formation of causal attributionsThe way we attribute behavior can have a profound effect on our analysis of it here. For example, attribution theory, which attempts to clarify why our explanations of a person's behavior can differ so drastically, holds that we can attribute their behavior to dispositional (inner qualities) or situational (environmental) influences. Other factors such as stress and personality type also affect the formation of attributions, significantly increasing the number of attributions we make and our sense of control in a situation. Causal attributions and stressAttribution theory comes from the work of Fritz Heider. In Psychology of Interpersonal Relations (1958), he argues that it is essential to accurately determine the intention behind behavior in order to maintain or maintain control over situations (Keinan & Tal, 2005). Later work by Kelley (1967) expanded attribution theory beyond the simple determination of intention to include the explanation of behavior by one of two possible determinations: dispositional causes (character traits ) or situational (Aronson, Wilson, Akert and Fehr, 2004). For example, if someone pushes us and we think they did it because of a dispositional factor such as dislike for us, we may view their behavior as threatening. Conversely, if we think the push is the result of situational factors, we would likely believe it to be an accident. Stress also affects the formation of attributions. Thus, expanding on the work of Heider, Keinan and Tal (2005) examined the role that stress and personality type play in the formation of attributions. Working with Type A (TAP) and Type B (TBP) personalities and basing their approach on Glass's (1977) control model...... middle of article...... causal attributions by relation to situations where no stress is I believe that, when their image is threatened, people act to safeguard it by increasing their causal attributions thus, they maintain control of who they believe themselves to be. my need to project a certain image poses a problem. A plausible alternative to the stressed personality model, proposed by Keinan and Tal, to explain my behavior during this game. Works CitedAronson, E., Wilson, TD, Akert, RM and Fehr, B . (2004) Social Psychology.: Pearson Prentice Hall.Glass, DC (1977). , & Tal, S. (2005)...