2 kinds of explanations Attribution: when people believe other things are responsible for their mistakes, like excuses. For example, as a teacher, he always hear excuses like my alarm clock didn't work, to explain that they didn't want to be late. Justification: when people know they’re responsible for their mistakes, but there’s a justified reason behind. For example, if someone ditches the class to go to a job interview thinking the interview is more important than the class, this kind of explanation is called justification.