Fritz Heider[1] called the attribution process when we attribute to others motives what makes their behavior seem more understandable to us. This attribution process helps us make predictions about other’s behavior and helps us decide how to behave around others so that we feel more secure about ourselves. Consider some of the following examples below and notice how you quickly make inferences about the underlying intentions of those in the examples.

1. A man volunteers to give blood to a local Red Cross drive, which pays 15 dollars for each pint. Is he really an altruistic person committed to helping others or is he an expedient individual who would do anything for money?

2. An Olympic decathlon Champion endorses Wheaties. Is he an advocate for a fine breakfast cereal? Does he really believe Wheaties is the “breakfast of champions” or is he saying those things primarily for the dollars he receives? 

3. A woman kisses her male companion at the end of a date. Does she see him as someone special, or does she allow most men to kiss her because she feels that it is the thing to do?

4. A couple go to church every Sunday. Are they religiously devout people deeply interested in enhancing their spiritual lives or are they socially conscious people primarily interested in creating a good image.

5.A salesperson greets you warmly and speaks highly of her product. Does she really like you or is that an expedient gesture?

If we infer that there is something about a person that is primarily the result of his or her behavior then our inference is termed a dispositional attribution factor. On the other hand, if we conclude that there is some other external factor responsible for this behavior, then we term this as a situational attribution factor.

Jones and Davis have suggested that we are inclined to attribute situational dispositions to behavior that we assume is common and ordinary or expected behavior. On the other hand, we tend to attribute personal or dispositional attributions to behaviors that we consider uncommon. It is also ironic in that we may tend to view the behavior that we do as motivated by situational factors but that same behavior when we see it done by others we may attribute it to dispositional factors.