Sometimes when bad things happen, we assume that the responsibility lies in the situation itself. There was some external factor that prevented the individuals involved from being successful or attaining some goal. The boss played favorites. The exam was not fair. The marriage failed because family and friends kept interfering.
In this scenario, we assume that the external circumstances determine the person’s behavior. This absolves the individuals of any need to ask how they may or may not have contributed. They have been trapped by forces beyond their control and those forces are the root of the problem.
This tendency to assume a person’s behavior is determined by external circumstances is called situational attribution. No matter how good the person is, bad things are being forced upon them from out-there. Bad people can reap benefits they have not earned because external forces play in their favor.
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