A group of Paolo's friends have been waiting for Paolo for an hour. One says, "He never remembers anything." Another says, "He's probably caught in rush hour traffic." What are these friends doing that might be of interest to a social psychologist?

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The friends are making attributions, which is the process of explaining the cause of someone's behavior or actions. They are proposing two possible explanations for Paolo's lateness - either he has a forgetful personality trait, or he is experiencing external factors such as traffic that are beyond his control. This is a classic example of attribution theory in action, which is a key concept in social psychology.

A Group of Paolo's Friends Have Been Waiting for Paolo