5/29/20; Week 6: Response to Attributional Tendencies Video and Readings

I had never heard of the concept of attributional tendencies before listening to Brother Ivers’s lecture on it (watch his lecture here: https://video.byui.edu/media/05+Attributional+Tendencies+in+ Cultures/0_u45682wd). I think it’s very interesting that we have such broad cultural tendencies in individualistic cultures to attribute our own personal successes internally and our personal failures externally, but that we do the opposite for other people, and attribute their successes externally and their failures internally. On the other hand, collectivistic cultures tend to do the opposite.

If in the future I have students from collectivistic cultures (which seems likely, given that ¾ of the world is collectivistic), it will be useful to understand their attributional tendencies, especially given that they will be the opposite of my own attributional tendencies. In particular, it will be useful to know that students from collectivistic cultures tend to attribute their failures internally. If I have a student from a collectivistic culture who is struggling with something in class, I will need to be particularly attentive to their level of discouragement, I think. If they are attributing their “failure” to grasp a concept internally, they could get discouraged easily, which will only make it harder for them to learn. If I notice this happening, I think it could be helpful to talk to them and try to help them see that their struggles aren’t necessarily their own fault, and that they are capable of learning the material (and I firmly believe they are).

Brother Ivers mentioned that we shouldn’t use our cultural attributional tendencies to decide our realities for us. Helping my students see and combat their own irrational tendencies – like blaming themselves for their failures – is one way I can help my students in their quest to learn English. I think being aware of my own tendencies will be helpful as well, especially the fundamental attribution error, where we attribute other people’s failures internally. I can’t help my students not blame themselves if I am blaming them too!