Attributions of Social Causality and Responsibility

The paper reviews relevant research on attributions of causality and attributions of responsibility. It is suggested that inconsistencies among findings in the attribution literature may be due to discrepancies between the meaning of 'responsibility' and 'causality'. Definitions for the two terms are proposed. An analysis of the literature in the area suggests that a distinction between research methods leading to causality attribution as opposed to responsibility attribution may serve to eliminate some of the problems in attribution research. (Author)