Self-discrepancies and causal attributions: Studies of hypothesized relationships

The self-concept and causal attributions are both centrally implicated in p sychological disorders including depression and paranoia. In two investigat ions of the dynamic relationships between causal attributions and self-repr esentations, nonpatient participants completed questionnaires derived from Higgins' (1987) Self-Discrepancy Theory before and after completing a measu re of causal attribution. In Study 1, consistent with cognitive models of d epression, external attributions for negative events were associated with r eductions in self-actual: self-ideal discrepancies. Study 2 revealed signif icantly different effects on self-discrepancies of three types of causal at tributions. Internal attributions led to increased self-actual:self-ideal d iscrepancies as well as increased discrepancies between self-perceptions an d the believed views of others about the self (self-actual: other-actual di screpancies). External situational attributions led to no changes in either self-actual:seif-ideal or self-actual: other-actual discrepancies. Externa l personal attributions led ro no changes in self-actual: self-ideal discre pancies bur increased self-actual: other-actual discrepancies. These findin gs point to the value of distinguishing between different kinds of external attributions. They show that self-representations and causal attributions are closely coupled cognitive domains. The results also suggest that parano id ideation might be specifically associated with external-personal attribu tions for negative events.