ACTORS, OBSERVERS, AND ATTRIBUTIONS FOR THIRD-WORLD POVERTY - CONTRASTING PERSPECTIVES FROM MALAWI AND AUSTRALIA

''Actors''' and ''observers''' attributions for Third World poverty we re assessed. Dispositional attributions were expected to be linked to the withholding of personal donations to overseas aid. A combined tota l of 582 undergraduates from the University of Malawi (n = 251) and th e University of Newcastle in Australia (n = 331) completed the Causes of Third World Poverty Questionnaire, which measures one dispositional factor (Blame the Poor) and three situational factors (Nature, Nation al Governments, and International Exploitation). Strong advocates of d onation behavior made the least dispositional attributions, but Malawi ans blamed dispositions more than did Australians, who blamed situatio ns more than did Malawians. This reversed observer-actor bias undersco res the critical influence of community context over societal culture and indicates that social cognition may be relevant to international a id efforts.