Breaking it is one thing, fixing it is another: Responsibility attributions and support for the U.S. Presidency, Congress, and the Supreme Court

When do attributions of responsibility predict support for governmental institutions? Data from an online survey of 508 United States citizens examining attributions for their most salient national problem revealed associations between attributions and evaluations of the Presidency, Supreme Court, and Congress. With respect to the Presidency, causal attributions were related to more negative evaluations, while resolution attributions were related to more positive evaluations. This was especially true for conservative participants. With respect to the Supreme Court, causal attributions were related to more negative evaluations. With respect to Congress, there was an association between causal attributions and negative evaluations, but only for those with a low level of resolution attributions. Results are discussed in terms of the political climate and differences in institutional expectations.

► We examine the impact of resolution attributions on institutional evaluations.
► Causal attributions lower, while resolution attributions raise evaluations.
► The impact of responsibility attributions varies, reflecting institutional roles.
► Ideology moderates the impact of responsibility attributions for the Presidency.