Home > Encyclopedia of Psychology > Fritz Heider

1896-1988
Austrian-American psychologist who developed concept of attribution theory.

How we interpret our own behavior, as well as that of others, formed the basis for Fritz Heider's work during a career that lasted more than 60 years. Heider explored the nature of interpersonal relations, and his work culminated in the 1958 book The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations. Heider espoused the concept of what he called "common-sense" or "naïve" psychology. He believed that people attribute the behavior of others to their own perceptions; and that those perceptions could be determined either by specific situations or by longheld beliefs. The concept may not seem complicated, but it opened important doors to the question of how people relate to each other and why.

Heider, the younger of two sons, was born in Vienna on February 18, 1896, to Moriz and Eugenie von Halaczy Heider. He was an...