The Role of Surprise in the Attribution Process
Author(s) / Creator(s)
Reisenzein, Rainer
Stiensmeier-Pelster, Joachim
Martini, Alice
Abstract / Description
We report five studies which compared two theories linking surprise to
causal attribution. According to the attributional model, surprise is frequently
caused by luck attributions, whereas according to the expectancydisconfirmation
model, surprise is caused by expectancy disconfirmation and
stimulates causal thinking. Studies 1 to 3 focused on the question of whether
surprise is caused by luck attributions or by unexpectedness. In Studies 1
and 2, subjects had to recall success or failure experiences characterised by
a particular attribution (Study 1) or by low versus high surprisingness (Study
2), whereas in Study 3, unexpectedness and luck versus skill attributions were
independently manipulated within a realistic setting. The main dependent
variables were unexpectedness (Studies 1 and 2), degree of surprise (Studies
1 and 3), and causal attributions (Study 2). The results strongly suggest that
surprise is caused by expectancy disconfirmation, whereas luck attributions
are neither sufficient nor necessary for surprise. Studies 4 and 5 addressed
the question of whether surprise stimulates attributional thinking, again
using a remembered-incidents technique. The findings of the previous studies
were replicated, and it was confirmed that surprising outcomes elicit more
attributional search than unsurprising ones. Additional results from Study 5
suggest that causal thinking is also stimulated by outcomes that are both
negative and important.
Keyword(s)
Überraschung Attribution Gefühl surprise attribution emotion attributional model expectancydisconfirmation modelPersistent Identifier
Date of first publication
1995
Publication status
unknown
Review status
unknown
Citation
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10_1_1_483_820.pdfAdobe PDF - 1.38MBMD5: 2360011a859b3f813de9464ad8195751
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There are no other versions of this object.
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Reisenzein, Rainer
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Stiensmeier-Pelster, Joachim
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Martini, Alice
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PsychArchives acquisition timestamp2022-11-22T06:49:44Z
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Made available on2007-01-30
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Made available on2015-12-01T10:30:25Z
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Made available on2022-11-22T06:49:44Z
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Date of first publication1995
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Abstract / DescriptionWe report five studies which compared two theories linking surprise to causal attribution. According to the attributional model, surprise is frequently caused by luck attributions, whereas according to the expectancydisconfirmation model, surprise is caused by expectancy disconfirmation and stimulates causal thinking. Studies 1 to 3 focused on the question of whether surprise is caused by luck attributions or by unexpectedness. In Studies 1 and 2, subjects had to recall success or failure experiences characterised by a particular attribution (Study 1) or by low versus high surprisingness (Study 2), whereas in Study 3, unexpectedness and luck versus skill attributions were independently manipulated within a realistic setting. The main dependent variables were unexpectedness (Studies 1 and 2), degree of surprise (Studies 1 and 3), and causal attributions (Study 2). The results strongly suggest that surprise is caused by expectancy disconfirmation, whereas luck attributions are neither sufficient nor necessary for surprise. Studies 4 and 5 addressed the question of whether surprise stimulates attributional thinking, again using a remembered-incidents technique. The findings of the previous studies were replicated, and it was confirmed that surprising outcomes elicit more attributional search than unsurprising ones. Additional results from Study 5 suggest that causal thinking is also stimulated by outcomes that are both negative and important.en
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Publication statusunknown
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Review statusunknown
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ISSN0269-9931
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Persistent Identifierhttps://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bsz:291-psydok-8908
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Persistent Identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11780/390
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Persistent Identifierhttps://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.11279
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Language of contenteng
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Is part ofCognition and Emotion
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Keyword(s)Überraschungde
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Keyword(s)Attributionde
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Keyword(s)Gefühlde
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Keyword(s)surpriseen
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Keyword(s)attributionen
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Keyword(s)emotionen
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Keyword(s)attributional modelen
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Keyword(s)expectancydisconfirmation modelen
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Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)150
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TitleThe Role of Surprise in the Attribution Processen
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DRO typearticle
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Visible tag(s)PsyDok