Group Members as Actors and Observers in Attributions of Responsibility for Group Performance

Previous research indicates group members have a highly variable pattern of internal and external attributions for their performance. The authors propose that part of this variability may be explained by group members making their attributions from the perspective of both the actor and the observer. Following a pooled-performance task, group members reported inflated internal and external attributions for factors responsible for their performance as compared with attributions individuals made for their own performance. Similarly, group members reported an inflated internal and external attribution pattern of factors responsible for a similar group's performance compared to attributions individuals made for the performance of a similar other. The results demonstrate that unique processes occur in the attributions of group members compared to the attributions of individuals for their performance.