🏷️ Assigning new source 🧠 Changing beliefs

reattribution

9.7

A therapy technique that helps someone see what really causes their symptoms

noun
/ˌriːəˈtrɪbjuːʃən/

Specialized

: reatribución

The counselor used reattribution to assist the student in recognizing that his anxiety did not stem from his academic abilities.

Examples

Through reattribution, she learned that her chronic pain was often linked to stress rather than a physical condition.
In the present study, we designed a reattribution training program to change the self-defeating attributions of LSE persons so that their subsequent performance would improve.

Academic text (2001)
On the basis of such reattribution training, we formulated the following hypotheses:

Academic text (2001)
Psychologists recommend reattribution to help patients understand that their feelings are not always caused by external events.

Antonyms

misattribution

1 8.9

Saying that someone made or caused something when they did not

Surface Forms

reattribution singular

reattributions plural

Morphology

reattribution = reattribute (semi-transparent) = re + attribute + ion

This is a regular action noun formed from the verb 'reattribute' with '-ion'.

Etymology

Reattribution comes from re- 'again' and attribute 'to give or assign a cause'. A helpful way to remember it in therapy is to think of 'giving a new cause' — therapists use it to help people change wrong beliefs about what is causing their symptoms.