Attribution theory
From WikEd
[edit] Descriptions, Definitions, Synonyms, Organizer Terms, Types of
According to the AllPsych webpage, the definition of Attribution Theory is "the theory that argues people look for explanation of behavior, associating either dispositional (internal) attributes or situational (external) attributes" (click to see the Definition). In this theory, success or failure is governed by the content of one's thoughts (Gagne, 432). As students we often question why we have failed or why we have succeeded so that we can succeed in the next academic situation. If we take a psychological perspective when examining how a student answers the question of "why?", we may see how this answer affects a student's future in terms of the student's expectations of success, emotional reactions, and persistence at acheivement-related tasks (Gagne, 432).
TYPES OF ATTRIBUTIONS:
Ability, effort, task difficulty and luck are some of the factors to which we can attribute our academic outcome (Mayer, 475). In other words, those four causes can be answers to the student's question of "why?". Students seek to understand the world around them, such as searching for the causes of success and failure in academic tasks (Mayer, 253). When we look closer at these causes, we can put internal or external attributes to them, also called the cause's locus, as well as stability and controllability attributes (Mayer, 475). Stability, as one might assume, describes if the factor is the same or changing over time and controllability describes if the student has control over the cause (Mayer, 475).
Fritz Heider was the first to develop a theory of attribution. Heider, who taught at the University of Kansas, said that attribution is the process of drawing inferences (Griffin). He realized that within personal interaction, we base judgments on far more than sensory information. We also make inferences on what a person did or how a person acted and make inferences about those actions. Heider believed that the attribution theory is a three-step process in which people have: (1) A perception of the action; (2)A judgment of intention; and (3) a attribution of disposition. He also distinguished between external and internal attributions.
However, it was Bernard Weiner who created the framework we use today in terms of achievement. According to Weiner, most of the causes to which students attribute their successes or failures can be characterized in terms of three dimensions: locus (location of the cause internal or external to the person), stability (whether the cause stays the same or can change), and responsibility (whether the person can control the cause).
Below are eight reasons representing the eight combinations of locus, stability, and responsibility in Weiner's model of attributions.
Internal-stable-uncontrollable (ex) Low aptitude
Internal-stable-controllable (ex) Never studies
Internal-unstable-uncontrollable (ex) Sick the day of the exam
Internal-unstable-controllable (ex) Did not study for the particular test
External-stable-uncontrollable (ex) School has hard requirements
External-stable-controllable (ex) Instructor is biased
External-unstable-uncontrollable (ex) Bad luck
External-unstable-controllable (ex) Friends failed to help (Woolfolk, 1995, pp. 346-347)
[edit] Application in Classrooms and Similar Settings
Depending on what a student attributes his or her success or failure on may affect his or her approach to academics in the future. There are several methods that have been used to try to change attributions in the past. Some of these methods include role models, reinforcement techniques (see Reinforcement), and persuasion from authorities (Siegel, 3). However, none of these methods can possibly work if the child doesn't care about succeeding in the first place(Siegel, 3). Therefore, it would be useful for teachers to use incentives to make the children care, such as token economies or some other reward system.
There are two basic implications of attribution theory for education: attributional training hypothesis, in which students who are trained to attribute academic success or failure to effort are more likely to work hard than students who attribute their performance to ability, and attributional feedback hypothesis, when teachers who show sympathy or pity when students fail convey the idea that students lack ability (Mayer, 254).
Some teachers ignore students who are having a hard time and therefore add to the students' unhealthy attributions (Siegel, 168). What teachers can do to assist students who are struggling is to lower the task difficulty. In some cases, in doing this, students may become more successful and therefore motivation may follow (Siegel, 169).
It is important to remember in the classroom that a student usually does not have one attributional style. Students attribute different things to different situations and therefore we cannot try to assess a student based on one situation (Siegel, 171). Teachers must be sensitive to how a student reacts in any situation to watch out for certain attributions.
Following is an example of “Internal and External Attributions�?, taken from Comer, 2004, pg. 254.
Event: "I failed my psych test today"
| Internal Stable | Unstable | External Stable | Unstable | |
| Global | I have a problem with test anxiety | Getting into an argument with my roommate threw my whole day off | Written tests are an unfair way to assess knowledge | No one does well on tests that are given the day after vacation |
| Specific | I just have no grasp of psychology | I got upset and froze when I couldn't answer the first two questions | Everyone knows that this professor enjoys giving unfair tests | This professor didn't put much thought into the test because of the pressure of her book deadline |
One of the only things teachers can do is focus on the "lack of effort" and try to make the students see that they have control of their futures. Check out the attribution theory in action!
[edit] Evidence of Effectiveness
There is a wealth of evidence as to how attribution theory can affect individuals' perceptions of themselves. Some researchers believe that programs that attempt to have individuals realize that their failure is because of lack of effort instead of low ability are necessary (Weiner, 1992, taken from Mayer, 2003).
When students can connect outcomes to their causes, they can reduce the stress associated with uncertainty and can understand themselves better (Weiner, 1986, 1992 taken from Stage et al., 1998).
In extra curricular areas, Roesch and Amirkham (1997) found that more experienced athletes made less self-serving external attributions, leading them to find and address real causes and hence were better able to improve their performance (.
[edit] Critics and their Rationale
While no research could be found disputing the fact that attribution theory exists, research did exist as to how teachers should best use attribution theory to instruct their students. All research seemed to agree that teachers should be aware of its existance, and that if students see the reason for their failure as something they can control, they are more likely to succeed in the future.
[edit] Alternative Explanations due to Diversity Considerations
"Individuals who are not promoted or miss out on developmental opportunities suffer career setbacks that can greatly, and adversely, effect motivation and productivity. Attribution theory examines the causal inferences that subordinates themselves hold as to why they failed to receive promotion or were denied a developmental opportunity. The glass ceiling phenomenon also readily lends itself to attributional interpretations. Using the 1991/1992 Career Development (Glass Ceiling) Survey conducted by the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, this study first looked at the barriers to promotion. In general, a pattern emerges in which attributions viewed as long-term and beyond the control of the individual to remedy are strongly attested to. Added to these general perceptions are heightened concerns expressed by women and minorities that the biases and in-group, buddy systems operate even more adversely against them" (Attribution Theory and the Glass Ceiling).
[edit] Signed "life experiences", Testimonies, and Stories
I can remember receiving my first disappointing grade in college and being heartbroken. Immediately I blamed my lack of effort and my ability to perform at the college-level. Attributing the poor grade on myself (internal factors) had an effect on the rest of my college career in that I contantly doubted myself when the material became increasingly difficult.--Unsigned
This is very interesting. The more I sought to understand this theory, the more I thought about the attributions I have used and observed from other people over the years. A close family member of mine uses many external attributions. I tend to use more internal attributions, but I used to blame everything on myself, which drove me absolutely crazy after a while. I am constantly working on trying not to be so hard on myself. I try to figure out "why" by taking in the perspectives of others and constantly piling question on top of question. It's frustrating when I can't get to the root of the problem by doing this.--Kathryn Milner
I have always attributed success or lack of success to the effort I put it. I always have felt that if I worked hard enough I could accomplish almost anything. If I failed at an assignemnt or test it was because I did not put enough effort into it. This is an attitude that, I believe, has helped me succeed and one that I think should be taught to students. --J. Fritts
[edit] References and Other Links of Interest
Links:
Attribution Theory page from Wikipedia
Attribution Theory and the Glass Ceiling
Attribution Theory: History and Background
References:
Comer, Ronald J., (2004). Abnormal Psychology. 5th Edition. Worth Publishers, New York.
Gagne, E., Yekovice, CW., & Yekovich, F. (1993). The Cognitive Psychology of School Learning, (2nd ed). New York, NY: HarperCollins College Publishers.
Griffin, E. (1994). A First Look at Communication Theory, (2nd ed). McGraw-Hill, Inc.
Mayer, R. (2003). Learning and Instruction. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Mayer, R. (2002). The Promise of Educational Psychology. Pearson Education, Inc.
Roesch, S. C. and Amirkham, J. H. (1997) Boundary conditions for self-serving attributions: Another look at the sports pages. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 27, 245-261.
Stage, Frances K., Patricia A Muller, Jillian Kinzie, and Ada Simmons (1998). Creating Learning Centered Classrooms. Washington, D.C.: George Washington University.
Woolfolk, A. E. (1995), Educational Psychology (6th ed). Allyn and Bacon.
