Responsibility Inference (Theoretical Basis of Social Behavior)

Author: (American) Weiner, translated by Zhang Aiqing
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-04-01
Features: The underlying assumption of this book is that social judgment and social justice exist in basic human biases, and the attribution of responsibility permeates our world and daily experiences. The primary purpose of Weiner's writing in this book is to demonstrate the widespread nature of these inferences, the allocation of responsibility, and the subsequent emotional and behavioral responses that are not limited to the courtroom. Life itself is filled with situations involving responsibility attributions. In the chapter, Weiner presents the fundamental assumptions and arguments of the book. The writing is primarily based on the metaphors of "life is a courtroom" and "man is God," assuming the existence of the legitimacy of acting as if others are the ultimate judges. In Chapter 2, the focus is on the effects of beliefs about responsibility for success and failure in achievement situations, particularly as a reasoning process related to achievement evaluations. This chapter also examines unsuccessful behaviors caused by a lack of ability or effort and distinguishes between attribution processes and responsibility attributions. In the following three chapters, various observed causes of aversive events and the reactions they elicit are discussed. These chapters address different types of aversive events, with a particular focus on alcoholism, obesity, and poverty; they also analyze reactions toward gay AIDS patients. Subsequently, mental illnesses, including depression and schizophrenia, are discussed. Chapters 6 and 7 shift to exploring prosocial and antisocial behaviors. In these chapters, a motivational theory is constructed that links responsibility beliefs to emotional responses and behaviors, and different conceptualizations of the relationship between thought, emotion, and action are outlined, along with relevant experimental evidence. In Chapter 8, the focus is on the strategies and methods of impression formation and impression management. In the final chapter, Weiner discusses a common issue in the field of motivation: integrating the exploration of social motivation with the study of individual motivation, and proposes a broader and more comprehensive framework for an attributional motivational theory.