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EQUIVOCAL INFORMATION AND ATTRIBUTION: AN INVESTIGATION OF PATTERNS OF MANAGERIAL SENSEMAKING
Author(s) -
WAGNER III J. A.,
GOODING R. Z.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
strategic management journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 11.035
H-Index - 286
eISSN - 1097-0266
pISSN - 0143-2095
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0266(199704)18:4<275::aid-smj880>3.0.co;2-v
Subject(s) - sensemaking , attribution , psychology , interpretation (philosophy) , social psychology , strengths and weaknesses , public relations , political science , computer science , programming language
Organizational research has revealed ample evidence of self‐serving attributional patterns in managerial sensemaking, but has not yet resolved whether actor–observer attributional effects also influence managers’ sensemaking tendencies. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate whether such actor–observer effects can be detected in managers’ interpretation of equivocal information. Results indicate that managers receiving equivocal information about the performance of an organization described as their own credited positive outcomes to organizational strengths and blamed negative outcomes on environmental threats. In contrast, managers receiving equivocal information about an organization described as managed by others associated positive outcomes with environmental opportunities and linked negative outcomes to organizational weaknesses. Both self‐serving and actor–observer attributional patterns were thus detected. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd