Attributional biases in subclinical depression: A schema‐based account

Abstract

Non-depressed individuals exhibit a self-serving attributional bias, taking more credit for success than for failure. Clinically and subclinically depressed people are less self-serving, often to the point of making similar attributions (explanations) for successes and failures. The present studies evaluated a schematic account of these distinct attributional biases. Subclinically depressed and non-depressed participants completed measures of attributional bias (the relative strength of ability attributions for success versus failure), schemabased optimism (the relative expectedness of success versus failure) and self-schemas of competence. Two studies evaluated a hypothesis derived from the schematic account: the greater the perceived competence and optimism, the more self-serving the attributional bias. As predicted, (a) attributional bias scores covaried with optimism and competence scores in both magnitude and valence (or direction), (b) depressed-non-depressed differences in attributional biases paralleled differences in competence and optimism and (c) when attributional bias scores were adjusted for the effects of optimism or competence, depressed-non-depressed differences in attributional biases were eliminated. The schematic account raises questions about the common assumptions that attributional patterns are traits, and that they play a central role in the aetiology and treatment of depression.

Why do(n’t) you like me? The role of social approach and avoidance motives in attributions following social acceptance and rejection

“…Why do people's causal attributions differ? A person's expectations about whether social situations generally have positive or negative outcomes are particularly relevant for the factors to which they attribute the social outcomes they experience (Feather, 1969;Feather & Simon, 1971;Morris, 2007). A person's generalized expectations, in turn, are key to understanding dispositional social approach and avoidance motives (Mehrabian, 1994).…”

Relationships Between Self-Serving Attributional Bias and Subjective Well-Being Among Danish and Spanish Women

“…In this vein, some studies have found that SSAB is inversely related to psychological distress (Koenig 1997 ;Sweeney et al 1986 ;Wallbridge 1997 ) , while the absence of SSAB or even a reversed SSAB has been associated with psychopathologies, such as depression (Alloy et al 1997 ;Mezulis et al 2004 ;Morris 2007) , anxiety disorders (Fresco et al 2006Mezulis et al 2004 ) , and schizophrenia (Moore et al 2006 ;Sanjuán et al 2009 ) .…”

Transgender Identity Is Associated With Bullying Involvement Among Finnish Adolescents

“…Gender minority stress and resilience (GMSR) theory ( Hendricks and Testa, 2012 ; Testa et al, 2015 ) posits that gender minority people experience external stress, such as discrimination and victimization (such as being bullied), but also internal stress related to internalized transphobia and perceived stigma that predispose them to being constantly vigilant and anticipating discrimination. This may predispose to the development of depressive or hostile attribution bias ( Morris, 2007 ; American Psychological Association, n.d. ), possibly leading to the perception of victimization by peers when none was actually intended. Internal stressors may also include concealment of one’s identity.…”