Effect of causal explanations on work-related judgments

Four studies investigated the value granted to internal versus external causal attributions of events in the workplace. The results showed that (a) managers provided more internal explanations when they were asked to present a favorable self-image, and (b) managers favored targets (job applicants) who had expressed internal rather than external explanations. The results also showed that not all internal explanations are valued equally: "efforts" are preferred over "trait" in explanations of job outcomes. The results are discussed in terms of a norm that regulates social judgments: the norm of internality.