Classical attribution theorists developed models of causal attribution that reflected their belief that people were primarily interested in attribution accuracy. These models did not consider contextual factors such as relationships and societal norms which resulted in the emergence of several empirical puzzles many of which are related to the use of consensus information. This study investigates whether the puzzle of the differential treatment of consensus information can be solved if it is assumed that people are primarily concerned with social features of the attribution setting rather than strict attribution accuracy. This study experimentally tests the role of key aspects of the social context such as the impact of social strategies in Kelley’s model of attribution to explore whether some of its empirical anomalies could have their origins in the social aspects of attribution in research contexts. The study found that participants were 2.63 times more likely to provide ‘inaccurate’ responses when there was a risk that the accurate answer would be socially disruptive. Findings from this study suggest that participants prioritise the implications of the social context over attribution accuracy. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.

Cognitive attribution theories provide convincing and empirically robust models of attribution. However, critiques include the scarcity of empirical research in naturalistic settings and the failure of cognitive attribution theorists to account for why, when and how much people engage in attributional activity. The present study draws data from naturalistic recordings of the common experience of computer failure and repair. A simple content analysis explores the extent to which everyday attributional talk is modelled by the cognitive theories of attribution. It is found that everyday talk matches the cognitive theories of attribution reasonably well for socially safe operative information about the problem, but poorly for socially unsafe inspective information about the agents and their actions. The second part of the analysis makes sense of this empirical pattern by using conversation and discourse analysis to explore the social functions of observed attributional talk. Participants use attributional talk to achieve two broad social goals: to negotiate and manage the social engagement and to construct and defend positions of competence and expertise. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

Typescript. / Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1978. / Bibliography: leaves 214-221. / Microfiche. / ix, 221 leaves, bound 29 cm

<p>Despite community policing interventions, rape incidence in South Africa reflects a consistent increase over the past decade. Victim blame continues to be a pervasive aspect of this trauma - where society blames the victim more than the perpetrator for the rape. In unpacking the complexities of victim blame, research has identified sex role orientation of the observer as an important variable. Given that the polic service is often the first contact a rape victim has with the criminal justice system, this study investigated how sex role orientation impacts on rape victim blame in a sample of police officers.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Wollongong, 2005. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references: leaf 219-237.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--West Virginia University, 2008. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 74 p. : col. ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 54-60).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wyoming, 2007. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on June 17, 2008). Includes bibliographical references (p. 23-27).

Thesis (M.A.)--Northern Michigan University, 2008. / Bibliography: leaves 42-46.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1990.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 1992.