The apparent external validity of the finding that self-perceptions of ability persevere after the basis for such impressions has been totally discredited was examined. In this study, subjects persevered in their perceptions of personal persuasiveness even after it was revealed that the initial success or failure upon which their impressions were…

In testing Weiner's (1972) attribution theory of achievement behavior, success was found to produce (1) no differential attribution to effort for those high and low in achievement motivation, and (2) an early performance asymptote for those high in achievement motivation, while (3) it also facilitated performance independently of attributions. The…

Males and females in kindergarten and third grade predicted whether a boy or a girl would succeed on a masculine or a feminine task. Findings support attribution theory and indicate that differential perceptions of male and female performance exist in young children. (Author)

Attributions of causes of successful task performances as a function of task and sex of the performer were investigated. Introductory psychology students (N=157) were presented with closed-circuit, videotaped episodes in which a male or female stimulus person performed a card-guessing task for 10 trials. Subjects heard the task described to the…

Performance expectancy and satisfaction were investigated in terms of the rate of change in performance outcomes. In a two-by-two factorial design, the direction (improving or deteriorating) and rate (accelerating or decelerating) of change in performance were manipulated using false feedback in a computerized math game. In accord with performance…

This study examined the influence of male and female models on the expectancies, achievement, and attributions of college students. A factorial design varied sex of subjects (male, female), sex of models (male, female), and causal attribution offered by models for completion of a novel task (effort, luck, ability, task difficulty). Females'…

One-hundred-seventy-six male and 116 female college freshmen took part in a questionnaire study of sex differences in attribution of achievemnt. Achievement was operationalized as grade point index, a performance measure of significance to the subjects, where success-failure feedback is contingent on one's own performance. The best predictor of…

Using Seligman's "learned helplessness" paradigm, androgynous and feminine women (as defined by the Bem Sex Role Inventory) either succeeded (contingent feedback) or failed (non-contingent feedback) at a concept formation task and were provided with internal (ability, effort), external (task difficulty, luck), or no causal attributions for their…

Forth-two elementary school children (Grades 2, 3, and 4) were tutored on a one-to-one basis by junior high volunteers (Grades 6, 7, and 8) for 12 weeks. Prior to the start of the tutoring program and following an experimental tutoring session in which tutee performance and feedback were manipulated, both the elementary and secondary students…

In an impression explanation of counterdefensive attributions, the tendency of subjects is to accept primary responsibility for negative outcomes and to deny credit for positive outcomes. Counterdefensive attributions represent attempts at maximizing the esteem in which observers hold the actor. To test this hypothesis, a 2 x 5 simulation was…

Do success-oriented and failure-avoidant students differ in their performance because of differential attributions? Path analysis, which permits the evaluation of causal assumptions in well-specified theories, was employed to test the adequacy of the causal linkages in the attributional model of achievement behavior. Thus, although differences in…

The effects of actor identity on achievement attributions for success and failure were investigated. Subjects filled out a locus of control scale either for themselves, a neutral other, a liked other, or a disliked other. Within each actor identity variation, the scale items were either (1) unchanged from the original version or specified as (2)…

The influence of empathy on observers' attributions for an outcome achieved by an actor was examined as well as self-presentational strategies when observers either expected to assume the actor's role later (Role-Playing). On videotape, observer-subjects (N=160) watched an actor succeed or fail at an interpersonal influence task, after being given…