We, as humans, are inquisitive. We try to explain things in order to have a rationale (explanation) for their occurrence or existence. This allows us to understand and function better in our environment. This fundamental approach influences our culture, society, and relationships, as well as daily interactions, in subtle and sometimes profound ways. This phenomenon was first studied and discussed by Fritz Heider as attributional bias in the late 1950s and further developed by other scientists.
Even though there are some personal and/or cultural differences in the making of attributions, there seems to be a universality to the attribution process (see Figure 1). People can make relatively logical assessment of situations and/or information both in life and at work, but we have to be careful of possible biases in our interaction with others.