ABSTRACT
The study of attribution as a separate area within social psychology can be traced back to F. Heider, who examined the process of “causal attribution in the perception of others”. This chapter describes how elites in Azerbaijan and Iran attribute the causes of corruption in the oil industries of their countries and explains the relationship between the “culture of corruption” and democratization. The research is based on in-depth interviews with 20 oppositional figures in Azerbaijan, including party leaders and political candidates, plus some media, NGO and academic persons, and a similar sample of 32 members of the oppositional elite in Iran. This chapter shows that Azerbaijani respondents were more ready to blame the high level of corruption on situational factors. Iranian respondents overwhelmingly provide dispositional explanations for corruption. The distinction in attribution theory between situational and dispositional attributions has proved to be a novel and fruitful way of looking at corruption in Azerbaijan and Iran.
