Who is referred to as the father of Attribution Theory?

Fritz Heider is known as the father of Attribution Theory because he was the first to conceptualize how people explain the causes of their own and others’ behavior. Heider introduced the idea in the 1950s that individuals are motivated to understand the reasons behind actions, leading to the distinction between internal (dispositional) and external (situational) attributions.

His work laid the foundation for later research into how people attribute causes to social phenomena, influencing countless studies in social psychology. Heider's emphasis on the psychological processes involved in making these attributions has had a lasting impact on the field, making him a central figure in understanding human perception and social reasoning. Other thinkers, while influential in social psychology, contributed to different areas and did not develop Attribution Theory in the same foundational way that Heider did.