Theoretical Qualifications and Extensions

Abstract

In this chapter, we will review theoretical qualifications and extensions in the attribution area that were prominent in the 1970s and early 1980s. Our treatment will be general and selective. We will describe a continuation of theoretical and empirical work based on the beginning foundation writings of Heider, Jones and colleagues, Kelley, and Bem. We will note how much of this continuation work has generated a good deal of research, debate, and, in some cases, clarification of basic process issues. But we also will point out how these theoretical qualifications and extensions of the 1970s, for the most part, have not led to the type of broad, systematic analyses of attributional phenomena that might have been expected in light of Heider’s (1958) magnum opus and the rush of theoretical work in the mid- and late 1960s.