Explanatory Style

Explanatory style is how an individual explains the events and situations that occur around them. Explanatory styles can be negative or positive. There are different ranges of explanatory style like pessimistic/optimistic or internal/external. Explanatory styles are attributional - they can cause people to have different perceptions of the same thing.

For example, when driving a person almost rear ends the car in front of them. Someone with an internal explanatory style might say, "Wow, I wasn't paying attention" while a person with an external explanatory style would say, "That person came out of nowhere!"