An Integrative Attribution Perspective of Empowerment and Learned Helplessness - Essay Example

Attribution Theory Name Course Institution Date Attribution Theory Introduction The Attribution Theory focuses on social psychology. It expounds on the relationship between happenings and behavior. In essence, this theory postulates that individuals have a tendency to derive conclusions from what they have faced or seen in connection to a particular event. In other words, attributes determine behavior (Carlyon 1997, p. 52). Inferences are drawn from happenings and conclusions are made appropriately. Through attribution process, people are in a position to make judgment especially on trends that may sound confusing in nature. The application of this theory in organizations has been wide indeed. Many managers use this theory to determine why some employees behave the way they do (Murray & Thomson 2009, p. 97). For instance, determining the motivation of various employees may benefit a lot from this theory. The previous events or happenings to employees will definitely have a profound impact on what actually motivates them to perform as they do. With such information, the organization will strategize on how to improve the performance and overall work output from employees. For instance, there are those who associate failure to bad luck (Jones, Kanouse, Kelley, Nisbett & Weiner 1972, p. 67). For such players, failing may not affect their determination to keep trying. For those who believe failure to be part of them or originate from them are easily discouraged by the failure. Discussion Steps Involved in Attribution The Attribution Theory is a process that follows three main steps. Such steps determine the inference that is drawn from the event. The first step in Attribution Theory is perception or observation of the event. The individual involved gets to learn what is happening. The perception of actions may be varied across different people. In essence, observation triggers the start of what is now referred to as the attribution chain (Weiner 1986, p. 237). This step is influenced by different kinds of biases. The preconceived information in most cases forms the basis for such biases which may ultimately determine. Such event nevertheless provides new information in the realm that propels the individual into the second stage of attribution. This stage is judgment. The judgment is based on the perception that was created in the first stage (Kelley 1971, p. 302). During judgment, the individual has the audacity to evaluate himself/herself as a fair judge. Throughout the judgment process, there is a feeling that the act committed was somehow intended by the person who committed that act. Just like the perception was influenced by the initial feelings, the judgment stage is also affected by prejudice and many other forms of bias (Harvey & Gifford 1985, p. 239). In evaluating bias in the judgment stage, it is good to understand that it is somehow twofold in nature. While in most cases it is caused by personal experiences, it is also affected by the environment. At the end of it, one believes that the action undertaken towards them or to others, which they witnessed, was intentional and was never provoked. After someone is convinced so, the next step is attribution of disposition. At this level, inference is drawn from this action. At this point, a link between what has taken place and future occurrences has been established. A conclusion is made that people to behave like this one actually are like this or so. The biasness in the entire process is revealed in various forms where the overall trend is to try and make it feel like the action was never provoked, but internally determined. Significance of Applying Attribution Theory in Organizations The knowledge that is gained from Attribution Theory forms a basis where the behavior of individuals in organizations can be fully understood and proper utilization made for the sake of the organization. The application of this theory has profound impact on interpersonal relationship in any organizational setting (Semin 1980, p. 299). One such organization could be a learning institution. This is one area where the applicability of this theory is very common. Knowledgeable teachers and tutors are able to make good use of this theory to understand and help the students. It is possible to understand the character of students in relation to their performance and related activities. For instance, when students are commended for good work, they tend to attribute this to their ability or internal ability (Campbell & Martinko 1998, p. 177). On the other hand, when they are punished for poor performance, often they attribute that to external causality. The words spoken by a teacher praising students has a profound impact on the self-esteem of the student. Take an example of a teacher who praises a rather average student for being intelligent. With time, the performance of such a student will improve. The more the student is commended for being intelligent the higher the self-esteem. The student becomes confident that the reason he is being praised by the teacher is because he is good (Jones & Harris 1967, p. 18). With time, he will work very hard to prove that indeed he is smart in the head. The student will continue investing more efforts in that subject with the aim of fulfilling the inner ego of being smart. At the same time, he will want to perform well so as to align the performance with the praises. This therefore puts on spot all the teachers. Teachers have a responsibility of improving the performance of the children in their class. Teachers can therefore use this theory to ensure that the students are appropriately motivated to aim higher in their performance (Kelley 1971, p. 302). This goes beyond the academic performance. It includes other areas of life regarding student. These areas may include cleanliness and punctuality. The use of this theory can help improve the student’s punctuality and cleanliness. When it comes to non-academicorganizations, the applicability is not that different. In every department failure to achieve the set targets is quite demoralizing. Often, employees will also cite external factors as having had a huge contribution towards the same. Such may include claiming non-cooperation of the management or market conditions. Not so is the case when they have outdone the set target. They will tend to associate that with their relentless efforts towards the set goals. It is obvious that people even in such organization will tend to allocate good results to internal factors while poor ones to external factors (Fritz 1944, p. 360). This clearly illustrates the Attribution Theory. In such a setting, when good results are obtained judgment (the second step) is made. Judgment allocates personal efforts to such results. From there, attribution of disposition is made. In future, such employees will evaluate performance as their own efforts. The manager in any given department can use this theory to bring forth desired organizational goals (Kelly 1983, p. 91). Achieving organizational goals begins by cultivating organizational behaviors. This can be achieved by the manager appraising his team for performance. In general, this will the stimulate team spirit. It makes it easier to achieve results when working with people who understand their potential. Therefore, the manager is in a position to influence the performance in his department by appropriately applying this theory. Application of this theory in an organization does not require reinforcements in order to realize results. Attribution changes the attitude of members of the organization for good. It is because an internal attribution directly influences one’s self-esteem. An informed manager can use this theory to turn around the performance of the organization (Harvey & Weary 1985, p. 131). The manager can cause a realization of the potential and abilities of the employees in the organization. He can make them realize that indeed their minds are committed to attaining the goals that have been set. He can have them realize that indeed it is within them to ensure that they do what they are contractually expected to do. This will greatly benefit the organization if properly implemented (Robbins & Judge 2013, p. 45). Therefore, this requires an informed For this theory to be effectively applied in an organization, its nature ought to be well understood. Attribution Theory is twofold in nature. While an individual feels like the good behavior in someone else are externally caused, the person being referred to believe that the cause of the good behavior is internal (Martinko, Harvey & Dasborough 2011, p. 151). On the other hand, the opposite is true in the situation where the behavior in question is a bad one. This must be well understood in order to effectively apply it in organizations. For instance, the manager may perceive poor performance amongst some employees as caused by lack of ability. On the other hand, the employees will take such poor performance to be caused by the difficulty of the assignment (Weiner 1974, p. 125). Having understood this, it is important for managers to consider both their attributions and the attributes of the employees. Having undertaken that, it will be easier for the manager to understand the human behavior in the organization and their subsequent impact on organizational performance. Organizations can benefit a lot from understanding the Attribution Theory. Attribution has a significant impact on the level of resilience of an employee. The nature and demands of organizations determine the kind of employees that can survive well there. The various responses to various attributions determine how resilient an employee can be (Coutu 2002, p. 47). For instance, an individual who managed to respond well to the issue of stress at young age is in a position to develop such resilience in future. Such a person will be very positive in relation to issues regarding stress. Such an employee will adopt well in an organization where the nature of the work is very stressful. This denotes the fact that the organizations which have a deeper understanding of the Attribution Theory will benefit especially when employing people. They will base such past occurrences to understand the responsiveness of the employee to various situations that are very stressful (Coutu 2002, p. 54). The ability for an organization to sieve the specific employees whom it is believed that they meet the required level of resilience puts that organization above others. This indeed increases the level of performance in the organization. At the same time, by understanding the working of Attribution Theory, the managers may be effective in working with the team. Based on the effect that performance outcome has on employees, the managers ought to understand how to assign various tasks (Fedor & Rowland 1989, p. 40). For instance, assigning very difficult tasks may ruin the career of atrainee in an organization. By assigning too difficult tasks to an entry level employee, failing to meet the required level may discourage the employee so much. Such an employee may develop a feeling that he does not possess the required skills and expertise to succeed in that particular task and may be in that particular organization (Harvey & Weary 1985, p. 144). A manager who understands the attribution concept is expected to give easy tasks to new entrants. Through that, the employee gains internal attribution that indeed he is special; special in the sense that he can effectively handle the tasks assigned to him. In as much the same worker may be challenged by the subsequent skills, the first experience will continually be a motivation for him. In case where his performance was appreciated, it makes it very easy to be motivated to put in more efforts in order to deal with any kind of task. Conclusion This paper has illustrated the significance of Attribution Theory to organizations. It connects the theory and the motivation of the employees in any given organization. In essence, it is discovered that perceptions affect the motivation of individuals in subsequent tasks. The internal and stable attributes greatly influence the success of individuals in an organization. Similarly, the external and unstable attributes will always have a negative impact on the performance of an employee. Both the employees and employers ought to make the right attributions regarding performance at different levels in order to move towards solving prevailing problems. In addressing this theory, care must be undertaken in relation to the areas that are literally considered grey. The human tendency in relation to viewing others to be in full control of their actions in the situations when they fail has been greatly criticized. It is proper to appreciate the realities that regard some of the situations. Some failures are simply inevitable and therefore any kind of perception that sounds biased is definitely not welcomed at all. There are people who may fail at a task in an organization yet they had done the very best to achieve optimal results. When such considerations have been made, this theory can aid many organizations in handling various employee-related issues for the success of the organization. References Campbell, C.R. & Martinko, M.J 1998, An Integrative Attribution Perspective of Empowerment and Learned Helplessness: A Multi-method Field Study, Journal of Management, 24, 173-200. Canary, D. J., & Spitzberg, B. H.1990, Attribution biases and associations between conflict strategies and competence outcomes,Communication Monographs, 57, 139–151. Carlyon. W. D., 1997, Attribution retraining: Implications for its integration into prescriptive social skills training, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 45-62. 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