We aim to understand what drives the IRX-\beta dust attenuation relation at
intermediate redshift (0.5 < z < 0.8) in star-forming galaxies. We investigate
the role of various galaxy properties in shaping this observed relation. We use
robust [O ii] {\lambda}3727, [O iii] {\lambda}{\lambda}4959, 5007, and H\beta
line detections of our statistical sample of 1049 galaxies to estimate the
gas-phase metallicities. We derive key physical properties that are necessary
to study galaxy evolution, such as the stellar masses and the star formation
rates, using the spectral energy distribution fitting tool CIGALE.
Equivalently, we study the effect of galaxy morphology (mainly the S\'ersic
index n and galaxy inclination) on the observed IRX-\beta scatter. We also
investigate the role of the environment in shaping dust attenuation in our
sample. We find a strong correlation of the IRX-\beta relation on gas-phase
metallicity in our sample, and also strong correlation with galaxy compactness
characterized by the S\'ersic indexes. Correlations are also seen with stellar
masses, specific star formation rates and the stellar ages of our sources.
Metallicity strongly correlates with the IRX-\beta scatter, this also results
from the older stars and higher masses at higher beta values. Galaxies with
higher metallicities show higher IRX and higher beta values. The correlation
with specific dust mass strongly shifts the galaxies away from the IRX-\beta
relation towards lower \b{eta} values. We find that more compact galaxies
witness a larger amount of attenuation than less compact galaxies. There is a
subtle variation in the dust attenuation scatter between edge-on and face-on
galaxies, but the difference is not statistically significant. Galaxy
environments do not significantly affect dust attenuation in our sample of
star-forming galaxies at intermediate redshift.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in A&