Causal attributions constitute one of the most universal forms of analyzing reality, since they fulfill basic functions in motivation for action. As a theory of causal explanations for success and failure, attribution research has found a natural context in the academic domain. Despite this, it appears that teacher attribution, in particular…

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…

Explores causal attributions of success and failure as functions of religious orientations among a sample of Polish university students. Participants assessed secular and religious attributions on three dimensions: controllability, stability, and locus. Finds that religious and non-religious participants attributed both success and failure to…

Causal attributions of 96 college students' performance in cooperative group assignments, and students' perceptions of the underlying dimensions of causal attributions (including relationships among performance outcomes, attributional dimensions, and attributional consequences) were examined. Locus of causality was related to affective reactions.…

Causal attribution has been found to have a great effect on future performance. Causal attributions were studied across two academic subjects and two outcomes using an open-ended measure. All 180 ninth-graders in a girls' high school in the Bay Area of San Francisco (California) stated their best and worst subjects and provided their perceived…

Examines how people with a high-achievement need attribute success to their ability and effort and failure to external factors such as task difficulty. Contrasts this behavior with people who have a low-achievement need. The measuring device was a multiple-choice questionnaire designed to reveal participant tendencies. (MJP)

Sixty-two French-Canadian women undergraduates participated in a study analyzing the effects of private self-consciousness on attribution. Shows women with high private self-consciousness, when told they performed well, attributed success to more internal, stable, and controllable factors than other subjects. In no-outcome conditions, no…

Criticizes the use of blame analysis rather than scientific analysis in sociological studies. Defines blame analysis as an approach to social science that (1) evaluates theories according to the extent that they blame protected groups; (2) equates cause with blame; (3) and rejects theoretical arguments that posit any causal role for the protected…

How low-income Brazilian students explain their school performance and the predominant achievement causes were studied. The relationship between achievement attribution and school achievement and students' conceptions of choice, career, agency, and relationship with achievement were also studied, using the causal attribution theory of B. Weiner.…

This study was conducted to identify the most salient organizational and personality factors contributing to burnout for elementary, intermediate, and secondary teachers; and to determine the pattern of causal predominance linking these stressors to burnout for each teacher group. Participants in the study, full-time elementary (N=599),…

Beliefs about the causes of success and failure in academic achievement were compared for students in the United States and Israel. The following 11 attributions were placed randomly in a questionnaire format: (1) mood; (2) skill; (3) knowledge; (4) chance; (5) effort; (6) competence; (7) help; (8) ability; (9) task; (10) bias; and (11) luck. Each…