Attributional: meaning, definitions and examples

Used in academic or formal contexts when talking about the process of explaining the reasons behind certain behaviors or events.

• The researcher focused on the attributional patterns of students facing academic challenges.
• Her attributional style affects how she perceives her achievements and failures.

Mostly used in contexts where something is officially or explicitly given a role, task, or value.

• The teacher was assigning homework to the students.
• He is responsible for assigning duties to the team members.

Commonly used in everyday speech and writing to indicate that a particular quality, result, or cause is assigned to someone or something.

• She is always ascribing her success to hard work and determination.
• They were ascribing the sudden drop in sales to the new marketing strategy.

Often used in legal or formal contexts to suggest that responsibility or blame is being attributed to someone, usually with negative connotation.

• The court was imputing negligence to the defendant.
• She didn't appreciate him imputing wrong motives to her actions.