A structural model of the consequences of success attributions--derived from B. Weiner's attribution model--was tested using 208 first-term college students. Although the hypothesized model was rejected based on a chi-square, goodness-of-fit test, a specification search yielded a model that fit the data and was consistent with Weiner's theory.…

Following an incentive (low, high) manipulation, college students received response-outcome contingency training. All students then observed a lecture. Postlecture results indicated that the high- compared to the low-expressive lecturer increased achievement and internal locus in contingent but not noncontingent students for low-incentive…

Undergraduates in an economics course reported prior grade averages and their final exam predictions. Students rated the influence that ability, effort, task difficulty, and luck had on performance and completed an achievement motivation scale. Regression analyses provided support for the attribution model of achievement expectations. Sex…

Four samples of university freshmen (N=859) rated the influence of 10 possible factors on exam performance. A subset sample (n=209) assessed 10 factors along 3 of the 4 dimensions identified in the first study. Results indicate that the dimensions of locus, stability, control, and globality constitute major causal attributions. (TJH)

This study was designed to validate subjects' classification of eleven attributions according to dimensions of locus, stability, controllability, predictability, and globality. Results indicated that subjects' dimensional assignment of five of Weiner's eight original attributions differed from Weiner's assignment. Differences existed in the…

Thirty-one male and 49 female undergraduate students were randomly assigned to 1 of 8 experimental conditions to investigate whether importance could moderate mood effects on student performance attributions. Outcome importance significantly increased mood biases in perceptions of causal locus but not stability. Other moderating effects are…

The achievement behavior of internally controlled college females was more affected by sex of partner and type of competition than that of males. Although internally controlled males achieved more than externally controlled males, internally controlled females performed better when competing against males or cooperating with females. (Author/BH)

Results showed that students high on internal locus of control performed better under low discipline classroom conditions, while high external control students performed better under high discipline classroom conditions. Data indicated that students assigned to a preferred discipline condition showed greater satisfaction than those who were not.…

Students (N=340) at the University of Manitoba (Canada) with internal and external loci of control (LOC) received no training or received either contingent or non-contingent feedback. Student achievement and achievement attributions were measured against variations in expressiveness in a videotaped lecture. Training and LOC influenced students'…

Rotter's Internal-External Locus of Control Scale (I-E) and the Survey of Study Habits and Attitudes were administered to 138 undergraduate students in a personalized system of instruction course. Results indicated that the I-E scale is related only to academic attitudes and that study habits are related to two measures of performance. (Author/JAC)

Causal ascriptions for anticipated goal attainment and the emotional consequences of such ascriptions were studied in 731 college students answering questionnaires. Internal and external attributions were made for past outcomes. Subjects felt that internal factors accounted more for success, and external, for failure. (SLD)

Attributional retraining--a therapeutic method of reinstating psychological control--of 198 Canadian college students through a videotaped lecture enabled external locus of control students to learn more and make better use of homework study materials but offered no advantage to internal locus students. Results are interpreted in a social…

Results indicate that students possessing an external locus of control contracted for and ultimately earned lower grades, began working more slowly, reported more state anxiety during oral assessments, and performed more poorly on a written final examination than their more internally oriented peers. (Author)