A Conceptual Analysis of Justification of Action and the Introduction of the Prescriptive Attribution Concept.

This paper proposes a conceptual framework to investigate how people con-strue justification of their behavior. It is derived on the basis of two lines of thought in Heider's influential 1958 publication: the conception of ?ought and value', and the conception of the naïve scientist engaged in behavior explana-tion (?reason attribution'). According to Heider, 'oughts' constitute socially shared standards for evaluating behavior as ?right' or ?wrong'. They are, conse-quently, essential for ethically justifying behavior. It is argued that justification is parallel to the concept of reason attribution regarding logic, and thus can be conceived as ?prescriptive attribution'. Similarities and dissimilarities of both concepts are discussed, research on prescriptive attribution is presented, and strategies as well as the potential merit of future research are shown.