Comparative Analysis of Attributions From Customer Experiences and Journeys

This study developed a Comparative Analysis of Attributions method to explore sensemaking after customer experiences and journeys. Its foundation rests on the constructs of attribution theory by which actors make sense of the causes of events. Customer experiences and journeys involve both consumers and the firm’s employees interacting at touchpoints in a value co-creation attempt; each actor then makes attributions about the exchange experience. The qualitative inquiry compared attributions across actors after value co-creation (co-destruction) in a banking services context during the financial crisis. This showed how misunderstandings of one’s own and others’ sensemaking attributions can affect value co-creation during the customer experience and journey. The analysis thus offered managerially actionable information. Marketers may then improve internal and external messaging, touchpoints, and operations for better customer journeys. Academic researchers may use this method to map the continuum of attributional biases, errors, and styles across actors, industries, and contexts.

Mediating Effect of Attributional Biases in the Impulsivity–Aggression Relationship Among Adolescents: Therapeutic Implications

Aggression is a multidimensional phenomenon, and for its better understanding, specificity involved in its dynamics must be explored. This article explores the role of attributional bias as a mediator between impulsivity and aggressive tendencies among adolescents. The mediating effect of hostile attributional bias (HAB) on the impulsivity–aggression relationship has not been studied extensively so far, especially in the Indian context. For testing the hypotheses, 320 participants within the age range 12 to 15 years ( M age = 13.57 years) were selected and administered relevant standardized questionnaires. Baron and Kenny’s criterion was used for mediation analysis, demonstrating that HAB partially mediates the association between impulsivity and aggression. Findings imply that reducing HAB through some reattribution intervention may be an effective strategy to reduce impulsivity-induced aggression. Specific guidelines to implement such interventions are suggested in the discussion.

Thank God for My Successes (Not My Failures): Feeling God’s Presence Explains a God Attribution Bias

Little research has investigated attributional biases to God for positive and negative personal events. Consistent with past work, we predicted that people who believe in God will attribute successes more to God than failures, particularly for highly religious people. We also predicted that believing that God is a part of the self would increase how much people felt God’s presence which would result in giving God more credit for successes. Our study ( N = 133) was a two-factor, between-subject experimental design in which participants either won or lost a game and were asked to attribute the cause of this outcome to themselves, God, or other factors. Furthermore, participants either completed the game before or after responding to questions about their religious beliefs. Overall, there was support for our predictions. Our results have important implications for attribution research and the practical psychological experiences for religious people making attributions for their successes and failures.

Liking low-status? Contextual and individual differences in attributional biases of low-status outgroup members

Previous studies on biased intergroup perceptions of outgroups’ irrationality mostly treated the target groups as opponents and rivals. In three studies, we extended this line of research and tested the hypothesis that individuals who challenge the existing social hierarchy exhibit more positive biases toward low-status outgroup members. We also hypothesized that when irrational thinking is framed as an important human trait, this bias is reduced among low social dominance orientation (SDO) individuals. In three studies (N = 169, N = 450, and N = 161), conducted in countries that vary in power distance levels (Poland, Spain, Sweden and Turkey), we examined under which conditions low-status outgroups are perceived as more rational than ingroup members. The results show that in a condition without irrationality framed as a human trait, psychology students (Study 1 and Study 2) and nonstudents low in group-based dominance orientation (Study 3) perceive outgroup members as less irrational than ingroup members. However, when participants were reminded that irrationality is a human trait, the perceived differences between in- and outgroup members were reduced. This effect was observed in all four countries (Study 1 and Study 2) and held when variables related to the tendency to behave in a socially desirable way were controlled for (Study 3).

Cutting out the middleman: Separating attributional biases from memory deficits

Bastin and colleagues present an integrative model of how recollection- and familiarity-based memories are represented in the brain. While they emphasize the role of attribution mechanisms in shaping memory retrieval, prior work examining implicit memory suggests that memory deficits may be better understood by separating attributional biases from the underlying memory traces.

Cognitive Biases in Clinical Population

Cognitive behavioral models have postulated an important role for most cognitive biases such as attentional biases, memory biases, interpretation biases, or attributional biases in different disorders. However, some cognitive biases have been more strongly evidenced in some mental disorders (eating disorder, phobias, and depression) than other disorders such as in obsessive-compulsive disorder or bipolar disorder. This chapter describes the relationship between some cognitive biases and some psychological disorders. Specifically, it explains the relationship between them in anxiety, depression, and eating disorders which help to understand the influence of these biases in the onset, maintenance, relapse, and/ or recovery from these mental disorders.

Disorganisation, thought disorder and socio-cognitive functioning in schizophrenia spectrum disorders

BackgroundPoor social cognition is prevalent in schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Some authors argue that these effects are symptom-specific and that socio-cognitive difficulties (e.g. theory of mind) are strongly associated with thought disorder and symptoms of disorganisation.AimsThe current review tests the strength of this association.MethodWe meta-analysed studies published between 1980 and 2016 that tested the association between social cognition and these symptoms in schizophrenia spectrum disorders.ResultsOur search (PsycINFO, MEDLINE and Web of Science) identified 123 studies (N = 9107). Overall effect size as r = −0.313, indicating a moderate association between symptoms and social cognition. Subanalyses yielded a moderate association between symptoms and theory of mind (r = −0.349) and emotion recognition (r = −0.334), but smaller effect sizes for social perception (r = −0.188), emotion regulation (r = −0.169) and attributional biases (r = −0.143).ConclusionsThe association is interpreted within models of communication that highlight the importance of mentalisation and processing of partner-specific cues in conversational alignment and grounding.Declaration of interestsNone.