Attribution

“Not only do people bolster beliefs in their ability to control in response to successful control of an event but also they hold an unwarranted belief that they can control chance events,” states Yamaguchi (Matsumoto (Ed.), 2001, pp. 226–227) in the course text. While members of all cultures have the goal of protecting self-image following failures, differences exist among cultures in terms of the attributions made for the failure and success of a task. Thus, while the self-serving bias is universally applied, the specific attributions made differ cross-culturally. In some cultures, it is assumed that failure is attributable to situational factors while others assume dispositional factors. 

Differences also exist in how the failure or success of another individual is attributed. Consider the relevance of attributions for success and failure for the scholar-practitioner working in a multicultural environment or in a global company. How would knowledge of how individuals’ attribute their own or others failure impact a team, classroom, or organization? 

For this Discussion, imagine that a group of business people from two different cultures (one from a collectivistic culture and another from an individualistic culture) work together on a business project, and at the end, the project fails. Consider how people from individualistic and collectivistic cultures respond to failure and the factors to which they would most likely attribute their failures.

With these thoughts in mind:

Write a brief comparison of the similarities and differences of attribution styles in individualistic and collectivistic cultures. Then provide an example of a group situation in which a project failed or a goal was not reached. Finally, explain how someone from each culture might explain the failure and why. Support your responses using current literature.

APA format. Stay on topic. no more than 4 paragraphs.