Identity & Attribution

An important concept in working with people
Begins early in life

SELF IMAGE:how we see ourselves

SELF ESTEEM: the value we place on ourselves

Argyle (1969) - 4 Stages of Identity Development

• Young children take in parental perceptions, attitudes & reactions
• Comparison to others (height, speed, looks, etc.)
• Social roles develop (child, sibling, youngest/oldest, student, etc.)
• Looking to role models - often actively seen in teens but it begins earlier

What About Other Models?

• Erikson's 8 Stages of Psychosocial Development
• Marcia's Identity Status Theory
• New Research into Neuroscience

Julia Freund et al (2013)

• 40 genetically identical mice in an "enriched environment"
• Measured "roaming entropy" - uniform at 1st then diverged
• Examined brains - "wanderers" experienced increased adult-born neurons
• Hypothesis: the ways we live influence who we are ... epigenetic changes

Time for Group Work!

LABEL JARS NOT PEOPLE

labels can lead to...
SOCIETAL PREJUDICE
INSTITUTIONAL STIGMA
INDIVIDUAL ATTITUDES

Turning It Over To Molly Westland

Attribution Theory

The Process of Attribution

• Event happens or someone does something that is perceived
• Individual decides if it was INTENTIONAL or NOT
• Individual attributes a cause or motivation for the event

INTERNAL ATTRIBUTION
something that was in the other person's control (intentional)

EXTERNAL ATTRIBUTION
something outside of that person's control (luck or lack of it)

ATTRIBUTION ERRORS

FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION ERROR
tendency to over-estimate the internal factors and under-estimate the external factors when explaining the behaviours of others

SELF-SERVING BIAS
tendency to attribute our successes to internal factors and our failures to external factors

Covariation Model (Kelly, 1967)

• HOW DO WE DETERMINE INTENTIONALITY?
• Is there CONSISTENCY? ... does the person always act like this
• Is there DISTINCTIVENESS? ... do they act this way in other situations
• Is there CONSENSUS? ... do others who are similar act this way

How Do We Attribute Success?

• Ability (Natural)
• Effort (Hard Work)
• Task Difficulty (Challenge)
• Luck

3 Causal Dimensions to Classify Reasons for Success

• Locus of Control - is the person in control?
• Stability - is the person consistently successful?
• Controlability - effort vs. natural ability

So What?

As SSWs, we need to understand how our clients come to perceive the situations in their lives.

We also need to understand experiences of success and failure and how these attributions will effect how our clients approach situations.