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Events explained in conversational ‘because’ statements
Author(s) -
Antaki Charles,
Naji Simon
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
british journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 98
eISSN - 2044-8309
pISSN - 0144-6665
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8309.1987.tb00772.x
Subject(s) - attribution , psychology , social psychology , class (philosophy) , cognitive psychology , epistemology , philosophy
‘Because …’ statements in 40 unobtrusively recorded conversations between middle‐class speakers were examined. Other people's single actions ‐ attribution theory's paradigm case for explanation ‐ were not frequently brought up for explanation. Events speakers brought up for explanation were, in order of frequency: general states of the world, events involving speakers or their groups, and lastly events involving other people. Implications for attribution theory and for the study of ordinary explanations are discussed.