Attributions to ambiguous interaction situations from the point of view ofthe target and the perpetrator.

The purpose of this research is to test if there is a difference between th e explanations people give in ambiguous situations depending on which group they belong to, a discriminated or discriminatory group. Thirty-three Cana rian participants and 31 Mainlanders filled in a questionnaire which includ ed several behaviors likely to be interpreted in a hostile way. Three cause s were provided for each behavior. One of the causes referred to the mainla nd origin of the person, another cause referred to personal characteristics related to the mainland stereotypes and the last cause was a filler. The r esults confirm the attributional differences between Mainlanders and Canari ans. More precisely, the Canarians tended to refer to the stereotypical cha racteristic of the person whereas the Mainlanders tended to use more the gr oup explanation.