What's your cause?
So it's your fault!
But
See, it's her fault!
But
And it isn't mine at all!
But what?
Well, if you hadn't gone
Back up again
We were needy
You were greedy!
Did you need that hen?
But I got it for my mother!
So it's her fault then!
But
See, it's her fault!
But
And it isn't mine at all!
But what?
Well, if you hadn't gone
Back up again
We were needy
You were greedy!
Did you need that hen?
But I got it for my mother!
So it's her fault then!
This is just a short snippet of the lyrics from the song "it's your fault" from the musical "Into the Woods." The characters are all in a circle pointing fingers at each other, trying to place blame for the sticky situation they got caught in. If you can- you should check it out, it's catchy, and teaches a good message. It correctly conveys how the circle of blame tends to go in circles.
What or who do you blame when something bad happens? We blame because it gives cause to our effect. It's a natural human tendency. However, where we tend to attribute the cause to can be a result of our culture, or sometimes even our personality. The judgements we make from the events in our lives or the things we do, are our attributional tendencies. There's internal attribution where you place the cause of an event due to your own actions, and there's external attribution where you place the cause of an event on outside people or forces. These can be positive or negative.
To be honest I'd never really thought about attributional tendencies being a cultural thing until viewing John J. Iver's lecture on attributional tendencies. It makes me wonder what it is in a culture that makes us lean towards internal versus external attributions. Personally, I think it's very circumstantial for me, though I could be biased in certain situations where I might not know the full story. I think what I can learn from knowing how it can be cultural though, is that it will make me more aware of what I'm attributing my problems or successes to. I know I, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints believe that I have agency to choose my own behavior, and therefore technically that decides the consequences. However I have been a culprit in the past of external attributions, thinking that God was 'punishing' me. I don't really believe this is true, but truly we humans can get caught up in our ideas and focus so much on the negative things that we become illogical.
Knowing about the differences people have in their attrubutional tendencies, I'll be better prepared when certain situations arise in the classroom, like when a student finds themselves guilty over having spilt the milk,when really someone pushed them into it. I won't be able to simply tell them that it's not their fault, because cultural paradigms are too deeply ingrained into us for it to be that simple. But rather, I know now that I can come from their point of view, understanding how they view the situation, and I can guide them through to a more rational conclusion.
Overall, attributional tendencies are something we deal with everyday, and it's our choice where we attribute the cause to, if only we are aware of the cultural biases we might have. It also helps us as TESOL teachers who deal with students from all over who might have various attributional tendencies we will need to learn about.
What sort of tendencies do you guys have in your cultures? Do you think your personality has anything to do with it?
Sources to check out:
"Your fault."
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