Causal attribution of crisis situation in companies
Keywords:
causal attribution; consensus; distinctiveness; congruity; Kelleys cube; corporation; crisis; experiment
Abstract
Manipulation of descriptions of eight crisis situations and three factors (consensus, distinctiveness, congruity) was carried out within 4-factor experiment to check how they influence the perception of negative events in a company. Four hundred students took part in this research. The results showed a clear tendency to seek causes of a crisis situation in business entity without any connection to rational assumptions. The key factors that were to impose the direction of causal attribution were: the specific character of crisis situation and information about a congruity. Information about consensus of the event was the most irrelevant in the process of attribution. The outcomes of the research were confronted with normative expectations which result from Kelley’s covariation model.
References
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Renkema, J., Hoeken, H. (1998). The influence of negative newspaper publicity on corporate image in the netherlands. The Journal of Business Communication, 35, 4, 521-535.
Roguska, B. (2004). Właściciel, pracodawca, obywatel - rekonstrukcja wizerunku prywatnego przedsiębiorcy. W: L. Kolarska-Bobińska (red.), Świadomość ekonomiczna społeczeństwa i wizerunek biznesu (s. 103-132). Warszawa: Instytut Spraw Publicznych.
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Sellnow, T. L., Ulmer, R. R., Snider, M. (1998). The compatibility of corrective action in organizational crisis communication. Communication Quarterly, 46, 1, 60-74.
Sjovall, A., Talk, A. (2004). From actions to impressions: Cognitive attribution theory and formation of corporate reputation. Corporate Reputation Review, 7, 3, 269-281.
Tillman, W. S., Carver, C. S. (1980). Actors’ and observers’ attributions for success and failure: A comparative test of predictions from Kelley’s cube self-serving biases, and positivity bias. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 16, 1, 18-32.
Tucker, L., Melewar, T. C. (2005). Corporate reputation and crisis management: The threat and manageability of anti-corporatism. Corporate Reputation Review, 7, 4, 377-387.
Weiner, B. (1986). An attributional theory of achievement and emotion. New York: Springer.
Winter, M., Steger, U. (1998). Managing outside pressure: Strategies for preventing corporate disasters. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
Borgida, E., Brekke, N. (1981). The base rate fallacy in attribution and prediction. W: J. Harvey, W. Ickes, R. Kidd (red.), New directions in attribution research (t. 3, s. 63-95). Hillsdale, NJ: ErIbaum.
Carroll, C. E., McCombs, M. (2003). Agenda-setting effects of business news on the public’s images and opinions about major corporations. Corporate Reputation Review, 6, 1, 36-46.
Cheng, P. W., Novick, L. R. (1990). Where is the bias in causal attribution? W: K. J. Gihooley, M. T. K. Kayne, R. H. Logie, G. Erdos (red.), Lines of thinking (s. 181-197). New York: Wiley.
Child, J., Rodrigues, S. (2003). The international crisis of confidence in corporations. Journal of Management and Governance, 7, 3, 233-240.
Coombs, W. T. (2007). Protecting organization reputations during a crisis: The development and application of situational crisis communication theory. Corporate Reputation Review, 10, 3, 163-176.
Coombs, W. T., HolIaday, S. J. (2002). Helping crisis managers protect reputational assets: Initial tests of the situational crisis communication theory. Management Communication Quarterly, 16, 2, 165-186.
Cooper, A. H. (2002). Media framing and sociaI movement mobiIization: German peace protest against INF missels, the Gulf War, and NATO peace enforcement in Bosnia. European Journal of Political Research, 41, 1, 37-80.
Doliński, D. (1992). Przypisywanie moralnej odpowiedzialności. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Instytutu PsychoIogii PAN.
Druckman, J. N. (2001). The implications of framing effects for citizen competence. Political Behavior, 23, 3, 225-256.
Fosterling, F. (1989). Models of covariation and attribution: How do they relate to the analogy of analysis of variance? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 4, 615-625
Fosterling, F. (2005). Atrybucje. Podstawowe teorie, badania i zastosowanie. Gdańsk: Gdańskie Wydawnictwo PsychoIogiczne
Frieze, I. H., Weiner, B. (1971). Cue utilization and attributional judgments for success and failure. Journal of Personality, 39, 4, 591-605.
Heider, F., Simmel, M. (1944). An experimental study of apparent behavior. American Journal of Psychology, 57, 2, 243-259.
Hewstone, M., Jaspars, J. (1983). A re-examination of the roles of consensus, consistency and distinctiveness: Kelley’s cube revised. British Journal of Social Psychology, 22, 1, 41-50.
Hewstone, M., Jaspars, J. (1987). Covariation and causal attribution: A logical model of the intuitive analysis of variance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 4, 663-672.
Hilton, D. J., Slugoski, B. R. (1986). Knowledge-based causal attribution: The abnormal conditions focus model. Psychological Review, 93, 1, 75-88.
Ipsos (2003). Postawy wobec społecznej odpowiedzialności biznesu. Raport z badań. Warszawa: Ipsos.
Jasiecki, K. (2004). Społeczna odpowiedzialność biznesu w ocenach Polaków. W: L. Kolarska- -Bobińska (red.), Świadomość ekonomiczna społeczeństwa i wizerunek biznesu (s. 213-242). Warszawa: Instytut Spraw Publicznych.
Johnson, T. J., Feigenbaum, R., Weiby, M. (1964). Some determinants and consequences of the teacher’s perception of causation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 55, 237-246.
Kassin, S. M. (1979). Consensus information, prediction, and causal attribution: A review of the literature and issues. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37, 11, 1966-1981.
Kelley, H. H. (1967). Attribution theory in social psychology. W: D. Levine (red.), Nebraska symposium on motivation (t. 15, s. 192-238). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
Kelley, H. H. (1973). The process of causal attribition. American Psychologist, 28, 2, 107-128.
Lee, B. K. (2005). Hong Kong consumers’ evaluation in an Airline crash: A path model analysis. Journal of Public Relations Research, 17, 4, 363-391.
Lerbinger, O. (1997). The crisis manager: Facing risk and responsibilities. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
McArthur, L. A. (1972).The how and what of why: Some determinants and consequences of causal attribution. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 22, 2, 171-193.
Medcof, J. W. (1990). PEAT: An integrative model of attribution processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 23, 111-210
Moussavi, F., Evans, D. A. (1993). Emergence of organizational attributions: The role of a shared cognitive schema. Journal of Management, 19, 1,79-95.
Nisbett, R. E., Borgida, E. (1975). Attribution and the psychology of prediction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32, 5, 932-943.
Orvis, B. R., Cunningham, J. D., Kelley, H. H. (1975). A closer examination of causal inference: The roles of consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency information. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32, 4, 605-616.
Pruitt, D. J., Insko, C. A. (1980). Extension of the Kelley Attribution Model: The role of compari- son-object consensus, target-object consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 1, 39-58.
Renkema, J., Hoeken, H. (1998). The influence of negative newspaper publicity on corporate image in the netherlands. The Journal of Business Communication, 35, 4, 521-535.
Roguska, B. (2004). Właściciel, pracodawca, obywatel - rekonstrukcja wizerunku prywatnego przedsiębiorcy. W: L. Kolarska-Bobińska (red.), Świadomość ekonomiczna społeczeństwa i wizerunek biznesu (s. 103-132). Warszawa: Instytut Spraw Publicznych.
Sandin, P. (2008). Approaches to ethics for corporate crisis management. Journal of Business Ethics, 87, 1, 109-116.
Sellnow, T. L., Ulmer, R. R., Snider, M. (1998). The compatibility of corrective action in organizational crisis communication. Communication Quarterly, 46, 1, 60-74.
Sjovall, A., Talk, A. (2004). From actions to impressions: Cognitive attribution theory and formation of corporate reputation. Corporate Reputation Review, 7, 3, 269-281.
Tillman, W. S., Carver, C. S. (1980). Actors’ and observers’ attributions for success and failure: A comparative test of predictions from Kelley’s cube self-serving biases, and positivity bias. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 16, 1, 18-32.
Tucker, L., Melewar, T. C. (2005). Corporate reputation and crisis management: The threat and manageability of anti-corporatism. Corporate Reputation Review, 7, 4, 377-387.
Weiner, B. (1986). An attributional theory of achievement and emotion. New York: Springer.
Winter, M., Steger, U. (1998). Managing outside pressure: Strategies for preventing corporate disasters. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
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