Covariation model
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Covariation Model
The covariation model was developed by Harold Kelley in 1967. It uses three scales to explain the system that people use in order to make an internal or external attribution to a person in a given situation.
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[edit] Model
The model is made of consensus information, distinctiveness information and consistency information.
[edit] Consensus
Consensus information refers to how other people behave toward the same stimulus.
[edit] Distinctiveness
Distinctiveness information refers to how the actor (the person whose behavior a person is trying to explain) responds to other stimuli.
[edit] Consistency
Consistency information refers to the frequency with which the observed behavior between the same actor and the same stimulus occurs across time and circumstances.
[edit] Explanation
According to Kelley's theory, when these three sources of information combine into one of two distinct patterns, a clear attribution can be made. People are most likely to make an internal attribution when the consensus and distinctiveness of the act are low but its consistency is high. People are more likely to make an external attribution if the consensus, distinctiveness and consistency are all high. When consistency is low, people cannot make a clear internal or external attribution and so resort to a special kind of external or situational attribution, one that assumes something unusual or peculiar is going on in these circumstances.
[edit] Assumptions
The covariation model assumes that people make casual attributions in a rational, logical way. People observe the clues, such as distinctiveness of the act and then draw a logical inference about why the person did what he or she did.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
Akert. R.,& Aronson, E., & Wilson, T. (2005). "Social Psychology". ISBN 0-13-238-2458
