An area of cognitive therapy that is concerned with how people explain the causes of behavior, both their own and those of others.

A major concept in the study of attribution theory is locus of control: whether one interprets events as being caused by one's own behavior or by outside circumstances. A child with an internal locus of control (also called "an internal") will believe that her performance on a test is governed by her ability or by how hard she studied, whereas an "external" will attribute success or failure by concluding that the test was easy or hard, the teacher graded fairly or unfairly, the room in which the test was administered was too quiet or noisy, or some other rationale. In general, an internal locus of control is associated with optimism and physical health. Children with an internal locus of control also tend to...