A dual-process model of overconfident attributional inferences

This chapter is concerned with the role of deliberate, resource-dependent processes and implicit, resource-dependent processes and implicit, resource-independent processes in attributional judgments. We describe the use of contextual inducements for identifying behavior and for explaining it, and we apply the distinction to dispositional attributions. Next, we present recent research testing our assumption that the use of contextual inducements for behavior identification is an implicit, resource-independent process, whereas the use of contextual inducements for explaining behavior is a deliberate, resource-dependent process. We then relate the present dual-process model to D. T. Gilbert's 3-stage correction model. According to Gilbert's model, situational inducements are used in a separate correction stage—one that follows categorization of behavior and attribution of the behavior to the correspondent disposition. The next section presents new research designed to test these models. Finally, we present a summary of general conclusions about the present dual-process approach to social attributions.