Desire for Control and the Use of Attribution Processes

The hypothesis that people engage in attribution processes to obtain a sense of control was tested In each of three experiments, subjects identified on an individual difference measure as high in a general desire for control (DC) were found to engage in attnbution processes more than subjects low in desire for control In Experiment 1, high‐DC subjects were more likely to utilize attributionally relevant information when describing the cause of a writer's behavior than were low‐DC subjects High‐DC subjects in Experiment 2 were more likely to ask attribution questions about hypothetical events than were low‐DC subjects In Expenment 3, high‐DC subjects gave more attributions for their performance on a test than did low‐DC subjects The findings are interpreted as support for the control motivation explanation for why people engage in attribution processes