How a different cultural context might play a role in attribution

Sample Solution

    When it comes to attribution in different cultural contexts, the results and extensions from studies can vary greatly. Attribution is defined as a process by which people explain the causes of their behavior and outcomes (Higgins & Kruglanski, 2019). Cross-cultural research has found that attributions tend to differ depending on the cultural context in which they are made (Heine et al., 2002).

In particular, East Asian cultures have been shown to emphasize external causes for failure more than individualistic cultures such as those found in North America (Kitayama et al., 1997; Heine et al., 2002; Ybarra & Trafimow, 1998). In Kitayama et al.’s (1997) study, participants from Japan and the United States were presented with stories about someone performing poorly on an exam. The Japanese participants were significantly more likely than American participants to attribute this poor performance to external factors such as difficulty of tasks or bad luck. This study demonstrates how attributions may be influenced by culture even when considering similar situations. Ybarra and Trafimow's (1998) study focused on attributions for success among members of collectivist societies such as China compared with members of individualist societies like Canada. Participants read stories involving successful outcomes such as getting a job promotion or winning a competition. It was found that Chinese participants attributed successes more often to external factors such as luck or assistance from others while Canadian participants attributed successes more frequently to internal factors such as ability or effort put forth. This suggests that different cultural contexts can lead people in those contexts toward distinct kinds of attributes for success versus failure scenarios. Heine et al.'s (2002) work explored self-concept differences between East Asians and Europeans across multiple studies conducted in various countries including China, France, Germany, Japan, Korea and the United States. Results showed that European individuals exhibited higher levels of self-esteem than their East Asian counterparts suggesting greater emphasis placed upon individuality in Europe versus interdependence emphasized by some East Asian cultures where one’s identity is not believed to be distinct from one’s group identity but rather intertwined within it due its reliance on social networks for things like economic prosperity(Heine et al., 1999). Thus these findings suggest that individuals belonging to cultures emphasizing interdependence may place less importance upon personal accomplishments leading them towards making more collective attributions versus individual ones when assessing their own accomplishments/failures . In conclusion , results from prior studies show how cultural context plays an important role in attributional processes . These results indicate that certain cultures may promote dependence on external resources thus leading members of those groups towards making differently framed attributions then what we typically see amongst North Americans who generally rely heavily upon internal sources etc.. Future researchers may consider conducting comparative cross-cultural studies using larger sample sizes so future theories could take into account potential confounding variables , As well exploring additional aspects related with how culture influences other cognitive psychological processes aside from understanding just how culture influences attribution .