The Scandal

When people’s behaviours are in conflict to the social roles expected of them, it is common to ask “why” so as to understand the observed discrepancies. The recent alleged involvement of the Governor of New York State, Eliot Spitzer, in a high-priced prostitution ring and his subsequent resignation provides an illustration of the social psychological concept of attribution theory, which is concerned with how people infer the causes of social events.

The media reacted to Spitzer’s public apology over his action that “violated his obligations to his family” with little sympathy. For instance:

“The revelation that Spitzer enjoyed the services of a high-end Washington call-girl ring may bring with it federal charges - and likely means the end of an exceptionally maladroit administration… His reputation for integrity is destroyed” (New York Post);

“He stands close to ruin's precipice, this tireless crusader and once-charmed politician reduced to a notation on a federal affidavit: Client 9. Mr. Spitzer cast himself, self-consciously, as the alpha male, with a belief in the clarifying power of confrontation. So often the governor seemed to accumulate enemies for sport, to threaten rivals with destruction when an artful compromise and a disingenuous slap on the back might do just as well” (New York Times);

“One might call it Shakespearian if there were a shred of nobleness in the story of Eliot Spitzer's fall. There is none. Governor Spitzer, who made his career by specializing in not just the prosecution, but the ruin, of other men, is himself almost certainly ruined. The stupendously deluded belief that the sitting Governor of New York could purchase the services of prostitutes was merely the last act of a man unable to admit either the existence of, or need for, limits.” (Wall Street Journal).

Spitzer was elected governor in November 2006, promising ethical reform in New York. Prior to this, he was New York's attorney general, and was known as the Sheriff of Wall Street for his relentless pursuit of financial wrong-doing. His successes in that battle even led Time Magazine to name him "Crusader of the Year" in 2002.

As part of the investigation, a federal wire-tap on a Washington hotel had recorded Spitzer allegedly arranging to meet a prostitute from an exclusive prostitution ring called the Emperor's Club VIP, which operated in cities across the US, as well as in London and Paris. The fact that he had taken a firm line against prostitution in New York during his administration perhaps explains the outpour of media condemnation against his “hypocrisy”. The New York public who were interviewed by CNN were also shown saying that he did not deserve to lead the State given what he had done.

The attribution theory developed to explain how people form dispositional inferences about others is called correspondent inference theory. It details the processes we follow in attempting to infer whether a person’s behaviour is due to that person’s characteristics or to situational factors. It appears that the public’s unforgiving barrage of calls for Spitzer to step down serves to reflect the internal attributions of the case, rather than external attributions (e.g. political conspiracy, bad luck to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time). The social undesirability of Spitzer’s behaviour and the exercise of choice in the matter (i.e. he was not forced to patronise Emperor's Club VIP, and he was even willing to fork out thousands of dollars to pay the call girl) would inevitably cause people to make a dispositional attribution and discount any possibility of external pressure for him to behave in that way.

This is why Spitzer had no option but to resign because the social perception of him (that he does not possess personal integrity) was no longer compatible with the qualities of a State Governor.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7288540.stm