Cognitive Attributions and Abed Nadir: Getting What You Want

Abed Nadir is no stranger to making cognitive attributions, and in fact, his character is constantly trying to process the events on screen and providing interpretations or explanations for what is happening around him in his unique and pop-culturally driven way. Re-watching the show while writing this blog has allowed me to watch Community through a psychological lens more easily. Understanding Abed’s attributions
can better explain his behaviors throughout the show. 

As discussed in previous blog posts, Abed often frames life through media tropes and pop culture references. These are external factors that help him make sense of the seemingly unpredictable world around him while at the same time distancing him emotionally from the event itself. I go back to the episode we have discussed on this blog before, “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas”. In this episode, it is revealed that Abed is attributing his feelings of loss and disappointment about the holidays to external factors. This external factor is that his mom is not visiting for Christmas anymore. This attribution, combined with Abed’s tendency to ‘animate’ his world, made him do precisely that. Abed breaks down, and the episode is done as a Christmas special in stop-motion claymation. This prevents him from fully processing the emotions that he is feeling. Instead, he copes through an emotional buffer. That buffer is a spin on 1964’s “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” this time. Abed is able to narrate the situation as something that is happening “to” him in a scripted world. There is a lack of emotional closure, and in truth, his fantasy avoids direct confrontation with his problems. 

How does this impact his emotions? Well, there are two schools of thought. In the short term, Abed's cognitive attributions protect him. Falling into a world of stop motion is safe and free of negative emotions (stress, sadness, loss). But, in this episode, Abed completely detaches from reality in his detachment from his emotions. He sought control and gained it, but not without a price.

We see that these external attributions drive Abed’s motivation. They are what motivate Abed to find meaning throughout his life. He does this through his unique story-telling abilities instead of addressing the present issues. This stunts his emotional processing in the long term, but in the 6 seasons of the show, we can see moments of true growth in him.