Locus of Control, Controllability, & Stability
There are three dimensions within cognitive attribution theory: locus of control, controllability, and stability (Weiner, 1985). Locus of control identifies the source of an event or behavior. Locus of control diverges into two parts: external, or situational attributions, and internal, or dispositional attributions. For instance, Tris believes that she is different than the rest of her Dauntless peers. Having different character traits and abilities is sourced from an internal locus of control.
Controllability means exactly as it sounds: the ability to control an event or behavior (Weiner, 1985). Some conditions are controllable, while others are uncontrollable. Tris is unable to control her deepest fears, but she can control how she reacts to them.
Computer simulations inject a “fear serum” in their trainees to
identify and exacerbate their deepest fears. During the computer simulation
activity, Tris is afraid of attacking birds, but she can control her fears and evade the birds.
Stability identifies consistency in a given event or behavior, determining whether a person can anticipate stability or instability (Weiner, 1985). Stability answers the question, how often does this event take place? Tris perceives the last day of training as unstable because she cannot rely on the computer simulation showing repeat lessons and techniques. Tris can, however, rely on the stability of the computer simulation in identifying her deepest fears.
According to cognitive attribution theory, stability can predict motivations and goal anticipations (Weiner, 1985). For example, if there is a stable event, a person can depend on its reliability throughout the goal-seeking journey. Tris believes that these successful past events are important and affect her progress and the meaning of life.
Specific Dimensions of Cognitive Attributions:
Ability, Effort, Task Difficulty, & Luck
Cognitive attribution theory identifies several impacts on a
person’s reactions and anticipations (Turner, 2022). These impacts are revealed
after identifying whether a person believes an event or behavior is an internal
locus of control or external, controllable or uncontrollable, and stable or
unstable (Weiner, 1985). These impacts attempt to explain a person’s
motivations and emotions for the event or behavior.
For example,
during a computer simulation exam, Tris achieves the highest scores and tricks
the program. According to Weiner (1985), this is ability attribution. Tris
attributes her unique cognitive skills to a controllable internal locus of
control, uncontrollable conditions (because it is a computer simulation), and
highly stable test-taking strategies. She can rely on herself to pass the tests
every time and she feels pride after her accomplishments.
Effort
attribution is a little more difficult for Tris. Effort attribution is an internal
locus of control, controllability, and instability (Turner, 2022). At first,
Tris can practice after everyone else goes to bed. It is up to her to
get up early in the mornings and be disciplined, but she cannot depend on her
physical prowess to succeed in every fistfight. She feels satisfaction when
she puts forth the effort but feels guilt if she sleeps in and lags behind.
Task Difficulty relates to the difficulty level of a task, factoring in an external locus of control, uncontrollability, and stability (Turner, 2022). The final task in the Dauntless computer simulation exam is to shoot a hypothetical innocent victim.
Tris knows this difficult task is about to come up because she
has prepared for it. She can rely on this task being here at the end of the
exam, but she cannot change the desired answer. Even though she does not wish
to, she must shoot the innocent victim to pass the exam. At first, Tris
feels hopeless, but after she passes the exam, she feels gratitude.
Luck has an external locus of control, is uncontrollable, and is unstable (Turner, 2022). Tris feels relieved to find out that Four, her boyfriend, is a Divergent as well. Both she and he possess the same unique cognitive and behavioral skills which Tris has been trying to hide from her peers. Lucky for her, Tris does not need to hide her true abilities from Four and both of them start to rely on each other more.
Short-Term Impacts
One of Tris’ friends, Al, turns on Tris and attempts to murder her. In this scenario, Al makes a fundamental attribution error: believing that personal errors attribute to external causes (Turner, 2022). Al believes if only he could rid himself of his competitor, Tris, he can then succeed in the training program. Al believes that it is Tris’ fault for his poor performance! After he realizes his error, Al begs for forgiveness, but cannot resolve his own locus of control. Unfortunately for Al, he allows fear of failure to dictate his actions, resulting in his committing suicide.
At first, Tris blames herself for Al’s death because she could not forgive him when he confronted her. Tris exhibits the alternative to Al’s fundamental attribution error: believing that others’ errors attribute to internal causes (Turner, 2022). Four, Tris’ boyfriend, tries to tell Tris that each person is responsible for their own actions. Instead, she continues to assume she is the direct cause of an unwanted outcome.
This lesson was a timely one for Tris. Not too much time passes after this scenario before a political uprising creates chaos within the city. Tris reunites with her parents, who both end up dying after helping Tris fight against the uprising. Resolving fundamental attribution bias will be an important lesson for Tris to grieve the loss of her parents without feeling remorse and responsibility for her part in their deaths.
Long-Term Impacts
However, Tris’ long-term expectancy for her goals is multifaceted and evolving. Since the political uprising, Tris’ goals and motivations change. She successfully completes training, meets a cute guy, and spearheads an insurrection against political opponents!
Unfortunately, Tris also experiences the loss of friends, and parents, and becomes an outlaw instead of becoming a Dauntless. As a result, she cannot resolve her internal conflicts. She continues to believe in fundamental attribution error, experiencing extreme guilt over her parents’ deaths and allowing her guilt to grow and influence her motivations and behaviors. As her story unfolds, Tris’ emotional stability begins to waver, believing that she is the reason people die around her, resulting in helplessness, guilt, and fear of failure. Spoiler alert: Tris’ story has a depressing ending!
~~~~~~~~~~ the end ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is the
conclusion of my character analysis of Tris from the film, Divergent. The
following Divergent films (2 & 3) are too heartbreaking (and illogical) to
analyze her character traits, so I intend on selecting a different character
next week! Stay tuned!
References
Weiner, B. (1985). An attributional theory of achievement motivation and emotion. Psychological Review, 92(4), 548–573. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.92.4.548
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