Attribution Theory in the Organizational Sciences: The Road Traveled and the Path Ahead

A Difficult Burden to Bear: The Managerial Process of Dissonance Resolution in the Face of Mandated Harm-Doing

“…The covariation model is particularly useful when examining mandated harm-doing, as its dimensions describe how observations shape attributions (Harvey et al 2014). Although other dimensions of attribution theory have been more frequently used in the management literature (e.g., locus of causality), Kelly (1967)'s set of dimensions allow us to examine how attributions are made when information is provided through repeated observations of other's behaviors.…”

“…By recognizing the dissonance that is suffered by enactors in these circumstances, researchers can broaden our understanding of how enactor come to underperform in harmdoing tasks and how this can cause increased hostility and disengagement in work-roles. Theoretically, this study responds in a novel way to calls to use attribution theory to understand organizational phenomena (e.g., Harvey et al 2014) by predicting responsibility determinations through the frequency of harm-doing enactment, the number of individuals affected, and its range of occurrence in various situations.…”

“…Current conceptualizations of the harm-doing process have under-theorized the role of the enactor by assuming acceptance, and this paper hopes to move the literature forward by including this crucial dimension into the forefront of harmdoing research. Second, it develops a process model of managerial harm-doing responsibility attribution, while responding to calls for the use of attribution theory to explain management phenomenon (Harvey et al 2014). Third, the model allows for the examination of the outcomes and implications of organizationally mandated harm-doing to the enactor, the organization, and the employee.…”

Understanding Internal, External and Relational Attributions in Reaction to Corporate Social Responsibility

“…Theorists argue that perception is the mere understanding of other's behavior however, in attributions; people try to understand the actual cause behind a particular event or behavior (Harvey, Madison, Martinko Crook, & Crook, 2014). Theorists termed people as intuitive psychologists where they try to understand the reasons behind others behaviors (Martinko, Harvey & Dasborough, 2011).…”

Fallibility and Trust in Healthcare

“…Concepts from attribution theory (Harvey, Madison, Martinko, Crook, & Crook, 2014;Heider, 1958) are useful for making sense of the responses from the doctors who denied fallibility and appealed to bad luck in order to explain bad outcomes. People tend to have an innate interest in understanding the causes of their own and others' successes and failures.…”