Dispositional attribution is the explanation of individual behavior

Human behavior

Human behavior refers to the range of behaviors exhibited by humans and which are influenced by culture, attitudes, emotions, values, ethics, authority, rapport, hypnosis, persuasion, coercion and/or genetics....

 as a result caused by internal characteristics that reside within the individual, as opposed to outside (situational) influences that stem from the environment

Social environment

The social environment of an individual, also called social context or milieu, is the culture that s/he was educated or lives in, and the people and institutions with whom the person interacts....

 or culture

Culture

Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...

 in which that individual is found. Dispositionalism is the general tendency to prefer dispositional attribution rather than situational attribution.

For example, dispositional optimism

Optimism

The Oxford English Dictionary defines optimism as having "hopefulness and confidence about the future or successful outcome of something; a tendency to take a favourable or hopeful view." The word is originally derived from the Latin optimum, meaning "best." Being optimistic, in the typical sense...

 is a tendency that applies generally across situations, but situational optimism is having hope and expecting a good outcome in a specific situation.

See also

• Stanford prison experiment
  Stanford prison experiment
  The Stanford prison experiment was a study of the psychological effects of becoming a prisoner or prison guard. The experiment was conducted from August 14th-20th, 1971, by a team of researchers led by psychology professor Philip Zimbardo at Stanford University...
  
  
• Attribution theory
• Nature vs nurture