Abstract

Attibution theory has been concerned with the causal explanations which individuals construct for their own behavior and that of others. As a theory concerned with individuals' caus explanations of events, attribution theory lies at the heart of many social psychological phenomena. Attribution theory bears on the central issue of naive epistemology or subjective validity. However, attribution theory and research have been criticized for being too individualistic, asocial, in their treatment of social behavior. Then it must be extended to areas other than that of interpersonal and objective level. For human knows the social world, not simply in terms of interpersonal interaction, but also in terms of intergroup of social relations. Studies at this intergroup level have demonstrated that attribution activities are made not simply as a function of ones' unique individuality, but also in relation to their respective social group memberships. Social groupings are fundamental to our social identity and to the social reality that we actively cognize. They must therefore be related to the process of social understanding-the very backbone of attribution theory. Thus the attribution activity is based on social representations and social categorizations in relation to social group. All three of theses additions-social representations, social categorizations and intergroup interaction-to attribution theory make it more adequate theory of causal attribution in the social world.