Attribution bias in social cognition: theories, applications in psychiatry, and research in Brazil
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25118/2763-9037.2025.v15.1453Keywords:
social cognition, bias, brazil, mental disordersAbstract
Attributional biases (AB) are among the main functional disturbances associated with social cognition, as they refer to alterations in the way individuals make causal attributions for social behaviors and situational outcomes. Despite their relevance for understanding psychopathological manifestations at the cognitive level, the literature on ABs still shows significant heterogeneity in related terminology and conceptualizations. This study presents an integrative analysis of some of the seminal works that aimed to define and classify ABs, as well as descriptions of ABs in psychopathological contexts. Finally, it presents the results of a search for studies conducted within the Brazilian context. A narrative review was carried out based on empirical and theoretical studies, reviews, and gray literature on the topic, following the criteria of the Scale for the Assessment of Narrative Review Articles (SANRA) and using the databases Google Scholar, SciELO, and PubMed. In addition to addressing terminological and conceptual alignment, highlighting the importance of distinguishing between attributional biases and attributional styles, the findings allowed for a brief discussion on ABs in psychiatric disorders such as borderline personality disorder and the schizophrenia spectrum. In Brazil, research on the topic remains scarce and mostly concentrated in educational contexts. Future studies may contribute to the development of more effective and culturally sensitive interventions.
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