Relating to the way people explain or assign reasons for things that happen, especially in psychology and social science.
From 'attribution' (attribute + -ion suffix) plus '-al' meaning 'relating to.' This term became common in academic psychology in the 20th century.
Attribution theory explains why we think things happen—and it's surprisingly biased! If you succeed, you credit yourself; if you fail, you blame circumstances. This 'attributional bias' is why the same event gets totally different explanations depending on who it happens to.
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