The history of ideas guiding the development of an attribution-based theory of motivation is presented. These influences include the search for a "grand" theory of motivation (from drive and expectancy/value theory), an attempt to represent how the past may influence the present and the future (as Thorndike accomplished), and the…

A theory of motivation based upon attributions of causality for success and failure is offered. Three central causal dimensions are identified: stability, locus, and control; these dimensions, respectively, are linked with expectancy change, esteem-related emotions, and interpersonal judgments. A theory of motivation with implications for…

The history of motivational research in education is traced through the "Encyclopedia of Educational Research." Major trends are documented, including (1) the drive concept; (2) the motivation-learning distinction; (3) individual differences; and (4) the emergence of cognitive concerns and the self. Current and future trends are…

Lack of effort-perceived controllability of need for help-anger-neglect and lack of ability-perceived uncontrollability-pity-help form two constellations. There was also evidence of an attribution-affect-action motivational sequence, in which thoughts determine what we feel and feelings determine what we do. (Author/CP)

Coalition preferences of 300 male and female subjects were ascertained under varying motivational conditions. Demonstrates that coalition formation and interpersonal conflict are dependent upon the motivational determinants of group activity. (Editor/RK)

Achievement motivation. test anxiety, and performance on a standardized reading test were assessed among males and females in the seventh and eighth grades. For both male and female Ss, reading performance was positively related to achievement motivation and negatively related to test anxiety. (Author)

A cognitive model of motivation is proposed which postulates four components as the determinants of the actual and anticipated outcome of an achievement-related event. The four determinants are ability, effort, task difficulty, and luck. These factors may be classified as either internal or external sources of control, and as either stable or…

A temporal theory of motivation is proposed in which causes, causal dimensions, psychological consequences (expectancy and affect), and behavioral outcomes play a role in the dynamics of action. The discussion of methodological errors in attribution research that follows examines shortcomings at each of these conceptual stages in the motivational…

A cross-sectional study of 300 children, ages 4-18 demonstrated that three evaluative dimensions (intent, ability and outcome) are used in forming moral judgments and achievement evaluations. Significant age trends were identified, lending support to a cognitive-developmental view of achievement motivation. (DP)

Weiner examines Sohn's previous article on attribution and affective reactions. Both researchers' data suggest that emotions in addition to pride and shame are experienced in achievement settings, and that these affects are not necessarily augmented by effort ascriptions. (Author/GDC)

Using an attributional framework, the study examined college students' (N=529) expectations of their future economic outcomes and the role they perceived that discrimination would play in determining these outcomes. Expectancies for self, locus of causality for outcomes, self-esteem, locus of causality for failure, locus of causality for success,…

This conference paper discusses two factors which seem to be responsible for the lack of clear progress in research dealing with motivation and learning in the schools: first, an overemphasis on the presumed influence of motivation on learning, which has resulted in a neglect of the many other processes that are directly influenced by motivational…

This article advances an attributional theory of motivation and emotion, with achievement strivings as the theoretical focus. Causes of success and failure share three common properties: locus, stability, and controllability. Stability of causes influences changes in expectancy of success. Expectancy and affect guide motivated behavior.…