Traits or circumstances? Children’s explanations of positive and negative behavioral outcomes

Abstract

This study examined the extent to which children rely on traits to explain behavior. One hundred twenty-eight 4- to 7-year-olds were told stories about actors’ behaviors that led to positive or negative outcomes. Outcomes could be explained with reference to positive or negative traits (niceness or meanness) or transient or irrelevant situational characteristics (such as emotions, biological states, and social categories). Generally, findings indicated that the majority of children referred to traits to explain behaviors and this tendency increased with age. Among non-trait explanations, emotions were used prominently at all ages to explain negative behavior. Older children in particular discounted traits as an explanation for negative outcomes when alternate explanations such as negative emotions were available. Latent Class Analyses captured individual difference attributional profiles among children: although most children were trait theorists, some children referred consistently to non-trait or situational explanations. Two other profiles reflected positivity and negativity biases in children’s explanations. These findings contribute to our knowledge about the relative influence of trait and non-trait explanations for positive and negative behavioral outcomes; we also present the first evidence for profiles of personality attribution.