Toward a Critical Attribution Theory: An illustrative case and agenda for future research

Abstract

Organization and HRM research had count on different psychological theories to predict a people’s reactions to relevant events at work. In this perspective, a great interest has been devoted towards Attribution Theory (AT). However, a critical analysis reveals that the application of attribution theory in organization and HRM research has been informed by some assumptions of the neoliberal ideology. Therefore, this paper adopts a critical approach to provide an overview of how the application of mainstream attribution theory in organization and HRM studies has been oriented by instrumentality and individualism and propose a critical attribution theory as a viable alternative. Finally, an illustrative case is presented to show how critical attribution theory can be successfully applied with respect to digital technologies implementation.