Attribution theory: untangling the relationship between management and workers

Attribution theory deals with how and why people form an opinion about the reasons for an event or observation (Winkler 2010). This theory is based on the idea that perception is the foundation of human understanding, sensemaking, and behaviour. This theory claims that people develop explanations for the behaviours of others, similarly to how scientists try to understand the world. The theory asserts that people's opinions are formed based on how they perceive the behaviour and the reality surrounding it. This explanation, the attribution, is based on how the observing person perceives a cause for the actor's behaviour.