The Buss Cause/Reason Hypotheses
An Empirical Investigation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11326499 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Steve Hinkle (corresponding author), Daniel F Schmidt (0000-0002-1788-2375) |
| Year | 1984 |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 358 |
| Publication date | 1984-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social Psychology Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0190-2725 • E-ISSN: 1939-8999 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.2307/3033638 |
| OpenAlex | W2319612142 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 5 |
An experiment was conducted to test Buss's (1978, 1979) hypotheses concerning actors' and observers' use of causes versus reasons in explaining actions and occurrences. Sixty subjects generated explanations for a set of 16 descriptions of behavior that represented both actions and occurrences from either an actoror observer-role perspective. The subjects' explanations were then categorized as cause or reason explanations by a group of 40 independent subjectljudges. The results support Buss's hypotheses that many of the subjects' spontaneous explanations would be noncausal (reasons) and that the tendency toward the use of reason explanations would be strongest in the explanation of actions. A significant actorlobserver by actionloccurrence interaction effect determining the use of reason explanations was obtained; however, its form differed from that predicted by Buss. The implications of the results for the study of attribution processes are discussed as are directions for future research
Attribution · Empirical research · Epistemology · Perspective (graphical · Set (abstract data type · Test (biology · Cultural Differences and Values · Psychology · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |