Attributional Tendencies
The attributions are inferences that people draw about the cause of events, other's behaviors, and their own behavior. When brother Ivers mentioned that he was going to talk about a deep topic, I could not imagine he will talk about this. It is hard to understand and accept how we attribute our or the successes or failures of others.
Internal attributions: Ascribe the causes of behavior to personal dispositions, traits, abilities, and feelings.
External attributions: Ascribe the causes of behavior to situational demands, and environmental constraint.
It depends in each culture how we manage these two types of attributions. In Hong Kong and India, they will use internal attributions to explain both personal successes and personal failures. In the other side, the typical Japanese person will attribute personal successes externally and attribute personal failures internally. In the United States, they will attribute his or her personal successes internally and when something negative happens, they will attribute it externally.
These attributions lead to a bias in different situations. It is amazing how powerful is their effect on our public policies. I liked when they asked us these questions: "Are your personal attributional models consistent with those dominant in your culture? Are these cultural attributions being reasonable, rational, or logical?"
In conclusion, as TESOL teachers, we must know that we cannot just attribute because each circumstance is different. There are many factors that influencing our student's life and we must learn about them and offer support to others. Life is not black and white; it is very complex.
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