Attribution (psychology)

Attribution is a way of understanding how people explain the things that happen to them. It helps us figure out why people do the things they do. For example, if someone you know gets a good grade on a test, you might think it's because they studied really hard, or that they're really smart. Attributing the good grade to their hard work (an internal factor) would be different than attributing it to the teacher being really nice (an external factor). Attribution helps us understand why people do the things they do at different times.