The kinds of explanations you make for events in your life can affect your moods, your behaviours and your relationships.
What are attributions and why do we use them?
If you took a moment to examine the thoughts that pop into your mind during the day, you would find that many of them involve asking and answering the question ‘why’. Questions such as, “Why did I fail my exam?”; “Why did our relationship end?”; “Why did I get promoted?”; and “Why did my supervisor snap at me?” are among the multitude of ‘why’ questions people pose to themselves. The answers we come up with to these ‘why’ questions are called ‘attributions’. Specifically, attributions are explanations people come up with to make sense of events and behaviours which affect them. A prominent psychologist suggested that we behave like scientists constantly in search of explanations for events which affect us much like professional scientists who pursue explanations for events in their particular fields of science. Not only do we make a lot of attributions, the kinds of attributions we make have large effects on our moods, our behaviours and our relationships. As a Calgary psychologist, I have seen many examples of attributions having these effects when doing depression counseling, anger management counseling and couples counseling.
Examples of attributions in action: Case 1–Attributions can contribute to depression
Our attributions have been found to affect our moods. Notably, attributions have been shown to play a critical role in contributing to and maintaining depression. The ‘depressed attributional style’ focuses on the particular manner in which people suffering from depression explain negative events which happen to them. Depressed people consistently attribute these negative events to negative characteristics about themselves which are unlikely to change. For example, a depressed person who has not performed well at work or school is likely to attribute their subpar performance to being stupid or incompetent. A depressed person would tend to attribute their lack of social success to their negative personality traits and so conclude that others will never want to be around them. On most occasions, depressed people rarely consider the possibility that other, less negative explanations for their setbacks may be valid.
How depressed people differ from nondepressed people in their attributions
Please note that nondepressed people also suffer setbacks in their work, school and social lives but their attributions for these negative events are usually not as negative as those used by depressed people. Nondepressed people are more likely to consider less negative explanations for their setbacks such as the possibility that they may need to improve their skills or effort. Note how these attributions are more optimistic because the person can take steps to address these factors. Other, less negative attributions which nondepressed people are more likely to consider are that the task they were faced with may have been difficult for most people or that some factors outside their control may have contributed to their negative performance.
Notice how focusing on the possibility that there are other, less negative explanations for your setbacks is better for your mood and leaves you more motivated to keep putting in effort which often eventually produces success. The depressed person’s focus on the one kind of attribution which is most negative as the definitive explanation keeps them depressed and less motivated to keep trying. After all, what’s the point in putting in effort if the reason I did poorly is something negative about me which I can’t change? That depressed people use this dysfunctional attributional style regularly keeps them trapped in a negative cycle in which their negative attributions for setbacks cause them to have negative mood which leads them to give up trying which produces further failures which continue to worsen their mood and motivation, etc.
Examples of attributions in action: Case 2–Attributions can cause difficulties in managing anger
The attributions you make for other people’s behaviour toward you can make it difficult to manage your anger. For example, consider how you might account in your mind for someone behaving negatively toward you. This might involve a friend, family member or a stranger ‘snapping’ at you. The anger you feel as a result of this behaviour will be more intense if you attribute their negative behavior to their personality (e.g., “She’s such an inconsiderate person”) compared to if you attribute their behaviour to circumstances (e.g., “She’s been under a lot of stress from work lately”). Similarly, your anger will be more intense if you assume that someone intentionally displayed negative behaviour toward you (e.g., bumping into you) despite it being possible that the behaviour was unintentional.
Feeling anger at a higher intensity because of focusing on one negative kind of attribution makes it more difficult to keep calm when you’re responding to the person which often leads to verbal or physical aggression. In addition, continually ‘getting worked up’ with anger because of a focus on negative attributions for people’s behaviour contributes to ongoing resentment and activation of the body’s fight-or-flight (stress) response. These often lead to significant negative effects on both your emotional and physical health.
Examples of attributions in action: Case 3–Attributions can cause problems in your relationships
Finally, attributions play a big role in relationships. Research indicates that people who are happy with their relationships and their partners make different attributions for their partners’ behaviours compared with those who are unhappy. Those who are happy tend to attribute positive behaviours by their partners to their partner’s personality (e.g., “He bought me flowers–What a great guy!”) and attribute negative behaviours of their partners to circumstances (e.g., “It’s true he was late for dinner, but the traffic was pretty bad today and besides, he’s not usually late”).
Those who are unhappy with their relationships and their partners do the opposite. They lean toward attributing positive partner behaviours to circumstances (e.g., “Yes the flowers he bought me are nice but he wouldn’t have bought them unless they were on sale”) and attribute negative partner behaviours to their partner’s personality (e.g., “He’s late for dinner. All he thinks about is himself!”). What is the take-home message? How you explain events and behaviours in your relationships can be as important as what actually happens in your relationships in determining whether you will be happy or unhappy in your relationships.
How to change your attributions so they’re working for you rather than against you
If you notice yourself using attributions that are causing you difficulties with depression, anger or your relationships, the good news is that you can take steps to change these attributional patterns. The first step is to become aware of the negative attributions you’re making in specific situations. You can do this by making note of situations in which you experience negative mood or relationship difficulties. Next, write down the thoughts you were having during the situation. Then look through this record of your thoughts to identify any of the dysfunctional attributions discussed in this article.
Once you’ve identified the negative attributions, test them for validity. Is the negative attribution you made in the situation necessarily valid or are there other, less negative attributions which could account for what happened? Notice what happens to your mood when you consider other, less negative attributions compared with the single negative one you started with. When people do this ‘reattribution training’, they typically report an improvement in their mood. With practice, you can train your mind to automatically consider a variety of attributions rather than resorting to the negative ones you formerly used as your go-to explanations. At this point, your moods and your relationships will be in a better place because of the new attributions you are using in response to situations which arise. One final point: You may find it helpful to work with a therapist on this endeavour.
Here’s to your answering your ‘whys’ in ways which benefit you,
Dr. Pat
What is your feelings about Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in treating depression? As well, are anti depressants helpful in treating treatment resistant depression?
Thank you for your questions. My answers appear below them:
(1)What is your feelings about Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in treating depression?
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is one of the most effective ways of treating depression because it addresses the underlying causes of a person’s negative mood states by increasing the frequency of pleasurable activities, decreasing the number of unpleasant activities, taking steps to solve problems and reduce the magnitude of stressors, and changing negative thinking patterns which intensify negative mood. You can find out more about CBT by reading about it on my website in the section which explains it (‘My approach’). The section of my website on treating depression also emphasizes CBT. The articles in the Blog section of my site also feature many CBT elements. If you’d like more information, the internet is filled with information on CBT as a treatment for depression. There is even a book called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Dummies which explains the main aspects of CBT.
(2) As well, are anti depressants helpful in treating treatment resistant depression?
For some people, anti-depressants can be a helpful part of the treatment for their depression. However, if they are used they should be taken in conjunction with counseling because medication only treats the symptoms of depression. Counselling can address the underlying contributors to long-term depression such as long-held negative thinking patterns called negative core beliefs.