A perceiver will tend to make an external attribution under conditions of high consistency,high distinctiveness,and high consensus.

According to Fritz Heider's attribution theory, when high consistency (when the behavior occurs consistently in a particular situation), high distinctiveness (when the behavior is unique to a particular situation and does not occur in other situations), and high consensus (when others also exhibit the same behavior in similar situations), a perceiver will tend to make an external attribution (i.e., attributing the behavior to external factors such as the situation or environment).