Attribution of Ability as a Function of Consistency of Information across Times, Tasks, and Persons: A Bias toward Favorable Attributions

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Abstract
A test was conducted of hypotheses from Kelley's 1967 attribution theory. Stories were generated which conveyed information concerning the success or failure of a stimulus person at Time 1/Task 1, at Time 1/Task 2, at Time 2/Task 1, and the success or failure of another person at Time 1/Task 1. Each of 160 subjects made attributions of ability for each condition in this 2×2×2×2 design. Main effects on attribution of ability occurred for all four variables and were generally supportive of the theory. Numerous two-way interactions, not predicted by the theory, suggested a bias toward favorable attributions. This bias resulted from a tendency to make attributions of high ability given inconsistent information and a reluctance to make negative attributions of ability unless multiple sources of negative information about the stimulus person's ability were in evidence. The positivity bias was not mediated by difficulty of the stimulus person's task but seemed to be a general predisposition to attribute positive ability and reluctance to attribute negative ability.

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