This study related subjects' perceptions of their causality for task participation to their causal attributions of task outcomes, their task attitudes, and their task motivation. Subjects received success or failure feedback on a creativity task after experimental manipulations had influenced their perception of their causality for task…

The proposition that actors favor environmental attribution and observers personal attribution was investigated. Psychology students attributed causality from two perspectives for verbally-described behaviors. It was concluded that motivational considerations mediated actor-observer differences and that perspective differences represent a…

Assessed differences in self-perceptions, peer perceptions, and attributions of relative responsibility for aggressive and nonagressive boys. Used semantic differential ratings following brief competitive dyadic discussion, and observer ratings. Perceptual and attributional biases operated in social interactions. Unlike nonaggressive boys,…

Examined are changes in personality impressions formed by status-oriented individuals who differ in Need for Social Approval (NA) or Locus of Control of Reinforcement (I-E). Subjects recorded their initial and final personality impressions of speakers ascribed either high or low social status. High NA observers (or Externals) showed most positive…

Examines abuse-related attributions and perceptions, general attributions, and locus of control and their psychological impact on sexually abused girls. Seventy-seven subjects and 88 controls were administered the Children's Attributional Style Questionnaire and the Locus of Control Scale for Children. Discusses clinical and research implications…

Although the effect of teacher expectations on student performance has been well documented, little research has focused on the effect of teacher personality styles on student-teacher interactions. To investigate the effect of teachers' locus of control and their expectations of their own effectiveness on student success, 77 female college…

A study of 104 students (ages 16 to 22) with mental retardation (n=32), learning disabilities (n=34), or no disabilities (n=38) examined variables that contribute to perceptions of self-determination and increased student motivation. The students with disabilities were found to have more of an external locus of control orientation. (CR)

Socio-psychological research concerning the relationship between attributions and coping with negative events unrelated to marriage suggests two constructs, blame and perceived control, which may influence conflict resolution in marriage. Married women (N=32) were interviewed in an investigation of attributions of control and blame for marital…

Two experiments were performed to examine the process of attributional thinking in Black and White children who differed in social class. Blacks did not display a less adaptive attributional pattern than did whites following actual performance on exams, and no differences existed in children's understanding of the meaning of causes. (Author/LMO)

Causal attributions for success and failure in science, mathematics, and English were studied with intellectually gifted secondary school students (n=30) and their nongifted siblings (n=32). For success in science, siblings had significantly higher effort and strategy attribution scores, and lower task easiness attribution scores than did gifted…

Uses a synthetic family strategy to demonstrate the operation of caregiving transactions with children judged either "difficult" or "easy." A total of 96 elementay-age boys were paired with unrelated mothers for videotaped interactions. Results focused on socially competent child behavior patterns. (CI)