Madness Explained: Psychosis and Human Nature

by Richard P. Bentall

However, the effects of external attributions depended on the precise nature of the attributions. External-situational attributions (the essence of good excuse-making, as in ‘I’m sorry I’m late but the traffic was dreadful’) led to few changes in discrepancies between beliefs about the self and ideals (‘I’m still the sort of person I’d like to be’) and very few discrepancies between beliefs about the self and beliefs about the opinions of other people (‘and other people still think I’m wonderful’). However, external-personal attributions (‘I’m sorry I’m late but the police deliberately set all the traffic lights to red to stop me from getting here on time’), although also resulting in few discrepancies between beliefs about the self and ideals (‘I’m the sort of person I’d like to be’), led to increased discrepancies between beliefs about the self and the perceived beliefs of others (‘but other people hate me’).