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Kelly's Covariation Model

Written by the Fiveable Content Team โ€ข Last updated September 2025
Verified for the 2026 exam
Verified for the 2026 examโ€ขWritten by the Fiveable Content Team โ€ข Last updated September 2025

Definition

The Covariation Model, developed by psychologist Harold Kelley, is a social psychology theory that explains how people make attributions about the causes of others' behaviors. It suggests that individuals use three types of information (consistency, distinctiveness, and consensus) to determine whether behavior is caused by internal factors or external factors.

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