A re-examination of the roles of consensus, consistency and distinctiveness: Kelley's cube revisited†

The reported study re-examined the importance of consensus, consistency and distinctiveness in Kelley's attribution theory. The source of consensus was specified by basing this information on others of the same sex category as the actor, and effects of personal and non-personal stimuli were also investigated to extend McArthur's classic study. Subjects completed a 16-item questionnaire in which they were asked to attribute an effect to person, stimulus, circumstance or ‘combination’ causes. The three information variables each significantly affected causal attribution, and consistency accounted for the largest percentage of the total variance. However, consensus information was a much more important determinant of attributions to person and stimulus than has previously been found. These differences were explained in terms of generalization gradients within people and across actors.