Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online 2025-11
Weiner’s Attribution-Emotion-Action Model: Uncovering the Mediating Role of Self-Blame and the Moderating Effect of the Helper’s Responsibility for the Help Recipient’s Behavior
Seven preregistered experimental studies investigated a potential mediator (self-blame) and moderator (the perceived responsibility of the helper for the help recipient’s behavior) of Weiner’s attribution-emotion-action model. When participants considered a nonchild close other experiencing depression, higher perceived controllability was related to lower sympathy, which correlated with less willingness to provide support; however, among parents considering their child experiencing depression, perceived controllability was either positively associated with sympathy (study 1) or did not influence sympathy (study 2). Offering an explanation, studies 3a/3b indicated a significantly weaker relationship between controllability and responsibility attributions when the target of help was the participant’s child. Study 4 investigated the underlying mechanism. Parents experienced self-blame when the cause was controllable, which lowered the association between controllability and responsibility attributions. Studies 5 and 6 revealed this pattern was not specific to the parent–child relationship but occurred whenever the potential helper felt responsible for the help recipient’s behavior.
AronA.AronE. N.SmollanD. (1992). Inclusion of Other in the Self Scale and the structure of interpersonal closeness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 596–612. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.63.4.596
2.
BjörgvinssonT.KertzS. J.Bigda-PeytonJ. S.McCoyK. L.AderkaI. M. (2013). Psychometric properties of the CES-D-10 in a psychiatric sample. Assessment, 20, 429–436.
3.
CorriganP. W.MarkowitzF. E.WatsonA.RowanD.KubiakM. A. (2003). An attribution model of public discrimination towards persons with mental illness. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 44, 162–179. https://doi.org/10.2307/1519806
4.
FishmanE. J.HusmanJ. (2017). Extending attribution theory: Considering students’ perceived control of the attribution process. Journal of Educational Psychology, 109(4), 559–573. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000158
5.
FaulF.ErdfelderE.BuchnerA.LangA. G. (2014). G* Power (Version 3.1. 9.2). Germany: University of Kiel.
6.
FoaE. B.DancuC. V.HembreeE. A.JaycoxL. H.MeadowsE. A.StreetG. P. (1999). A comparison of exposure therapy, stress inoculation training, and their combination for reducing posttraumatic stress disorder in female assault victims. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 67(2), 194–200. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-006x.67.2.194
7.
GreitemeyerT.RudolphU.WeinerB. (2003). Whom would you rather help: An acquaintance not responsible for her plight or a responsible sibling?The Journal of Social Psychology, 143(3), 331–340. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224540309598448
HayesA. F. (2018). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.
10.
HeiderF. (1958). The psychology of interpersonal relations. Wiley.
11.
HeiderF.SimmelM. (1944). An experimental study of apparent behavior. The American Journal of Psychology, 57, 243–259. https://doi.org/10.2307/1416950
12.
HelgesonV. S.Van VleetM. (2019). Short report: Inclusion of Other in the Self Scale: An adaptation and exploration in a diverse community sample. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 36(11-12), 4048–4056. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407519848491
13.
Janoff-BulmanR. (1979). Characterological versus behavioral self-blame: Inquiries into depression and rape. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37(10), 1798–1809. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.37.10.1798
14.
KitayamaS.MarkusH. R.KurokawaM. (2000). Culture, emotion, and well-being: Good feelings in Japan and the United States. Cognition and Emotion, 14(1), 93–124. https://doi.org/10.1080/026999300379003
15.
MuschettoT.SiegelJ. T. (2023). Perceived stability of depressive symptomology and willingness to help relational partners: An attributional perspective. Current Psychology, 42(16), 14076–14091. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-02708-9
16.
MosesT. (2010). Exploring parents’ self-blame in relation to adolescents’ mental disorders. Family Relations: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Family Studies, 59(2), 103–120. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2010.00589.x
17.
MarkusH. R.KitayamaS. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review, 98(2), 224–253. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.98.2.224
18.
MullenE.SkitkaL. J. (2009). Comparing Americans’ and Ukrainians’ allocations of public assistance: The role of affective reactions in helping behavior. Journal of Cross-cultural Psychology, 40, 301–318. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022108328916
19.
MuschettoT.SiegelJ. T. (2019). Attribution theory and support for individuals with depression: The impact of controllability, stability, and interpersonal relationship. Stigma and Health, 4, 126–135.
20.
MuschettoT.SiegelJ. T. (2020). Use of attribution vignettes and public service announcements to influence perceived stability of depression: The impact on affect, outcome expectations, and helping judgments. Stigma and Health, 5, 69–78.
21.
RudolphU.RoeschS.GreitemeyerT.WeinerB. (2004). A meta-analytic review of help giving and aggression from an attributional perspective: Contributions to a general theory of motivation. Cognition and Emotion, 18(6), 815–848. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699930341000248
22.
RuybalA. L.SiegelJ. T. (2017). Increasing social support for women with postpartum depression: An application of attribution theory. Stigma and Health, 2, 137–156.
23.
RuybalA. L.SiegelJ. T. (2019). Attribution theory and reducing stigma toward women with postpartum depression: Examining the role of perceptions of stability. Stigma and Health, 4, 320–329.
24.
SiegelJ. T.AlvaroE. M.CranoW. D.LienemannB. A.HohmanZ. P.O’BrienE. (2012). Increasing social support for depressed individuals: a cross-cultural assessment of an affect-expectancy approach. Journal of health communication, 17(6), 713–732. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2011.635775
25.
TullettA. M.PlaksJ. E. (2016). Testing the link between empathy and lay theories of happiness. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 42(11), 1505–1521. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167216665092
26.
VasconcelosE.SaD.BarrowcloughC.HartleyS.WeardenA. (2017). Self-blame attributions in relatives of people with recent-onset psychosis: Associations with relatives’ distress and behavioural control. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 56, 172–188.
27.
van BoekelL. C.BrouwersE. P. M.van WeeghelJ.GarretsenH. F. L. (2014). Healthcare professionals’ regard towards working with patients with substance use disorders: comparison of primary care, general psychiatry and specialist addiction services. Drug and alcohol dependence, 134, 92–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2013.09.012
28.
WeinerB. (1980a). A cognitive (attribution)-emotion-action model of motivated behavior: An analysis of judgments of help-giving. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 186–200.
29.
WeinerB. (1980b). MayI “borrow your class notes? An attributional analysis of judgments of help giving in an achievement-related context. Journal of Educational Psychology, 72, 676–681.
30.
WeinerB. (1995). Judgments of responsibility: A foundation for a theory of social conduct. Guilford Press.
31.
WeinerB. (2000). Intrapersonal and interpersonal theories of motivation from an attributional perspective. Educational Psychology Review, 12, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009017532121
32.
WeinerB. (2006). Social motivation, justice, and the moral emotions: An attributional approach. Lawrence Erlbaum. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410615749
33.
WeinerB.KuklaA. (1970). An attributional analysis of achievement motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 15, 1–20.
34.
WickensC. M.WiesenthalD. L.FloraD. B.FlettG. L. (2011). Understanding driver anger and aggression: Attributional theory in the driving environment. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 17(4), 354–370. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025815
35.
WangH.HallN. C. (2018). A systematic review of teachers’ causal attributions: Prevalence, correlates, and consequences. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, Article 2305. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02305
WeinerB.OsborneD.RudolphU. (2011). An attributional analysis of reactions to poverty: The political ideology of the giver and the perceived morality of the receiver. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 15(2), 199–213. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868310387615
38.
WeinerB.PerryR. P.MagnussonJ. (1988). An attributional analysis of reactions to stigmas. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 738–748.
39.
YangZ.GuZ.WangD.TanX.WangX. (2017). The effect of anger and sadness on prosocial decision making: The role of the interpersonal attribution of responsibility. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 49, 393–403. https://doi.org/10.3724/SP.J.1041.2017.00393
40.
YaoE.LiY.WangC. (2021). The fear of being associated with sexual minority close others: Socio-cultural predictors of sexual minority affiliate stigma. Sexuality & Culture: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly, 25(3), 925–938. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-020-09801-w
41.
YaoE.SiegelJ. T. (2021a). Examining the role of interpersonal relationship on attribution, emotion, and depression support provision: Experimental evidence from the People’s Republic of China. Motivation Science, 7(1), 46–55.
42.
YaoE.SiegelJ. T. (2021b). The influence of perceptions of intentionality and controllability on perceived responsibility: Applying attribution theory to people’s responses to social transgression in the COVID-19 pandemic. Motivation Science, 7(2), 199–206.
43.
YaoX.WangC.ZhuZ.HuiJ. (2020). Effects of biogenetic beliefs for schizophrenia on potential caregivers in China: Exploring the role of affiliate stigma. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing. 29(2), 161–170.
44.
YaoE.WangC.SunM. (2020). An empirical examination of the biogenetic approach in schizophrenia stigma reduction through an attribution lens. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 67(3), 227–231.
45.
YaoX.SiegelJ. T. (2019, May). Attribution theory, depression, and willingness to provide social support in China. In SiegelJ. T. (Chair), Attribution-based approaches for reducing the stigmatization of people with depression. Association for Psychological Science Annual Conference, Washington, DC.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
