CAUSAL VERSUS EXISTENTIAL ATTRIBUTIONS - DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES ON HIGHLY NEGATIVE EVENTS

In this article, we examine attributions of extremely negative events such as an HIV infection, both from the perspective of the infected pe rson as well as from the perspective of noninfected observers. The imp etus for these studies is the observation that victims of highly negat ive events often refer to attributions such as ''poetic justice'' or ' 'personal destiny.'' These attributions are distinguished from causal attributions and are labeled existential attributions. In Study 1, we analyze whether existential attributions are indeed prevalent among pe rsons infected with HIV. In Studies 2, 3, and 4, we examine the evalua tion of such existential attributions from the perspective of an outsi de observer. Results show that persons infected with HIV indeed refer to existential attributions to explain their infection, whereas uninvo lved observers predominantly reject these attributions. Moreover, Stud ies 2 and 3 reveal that perspective-taking ability, when measured as a stable person disposition, does not foster an understanding of existe ntial attributions. However, as is shown in Study 4, situational deter minants of the observer's perspective taking-such as the perception of one's own risk of becoming infected with HIV-promotes an understandin g of the possible functions of existential attributions. Results are d iscussed with respect to the veridicality and functionality of existen tial attributions as well as their therapeutic implications.