The interactive effects of implicit normative and explicit situational consensus information were examined regarding the processes of causal attribution and evaluation. Stimulus items were single sentence descriptions of antisocial and prosocial behaviors representing the extremes of high and low normative consensus in each behavior category, as…

For many years researchers have investigated the relationship between alcohol consumption and human aggression. A "policy-capturing" methodology was used to determine how judgments of responsibility for aggressive behavior are influenced by information about a person's alcohol consumption, sex, and degree of injury to a victim. Male subjects (N=8)…

Previous research has shown that individuals take more responsibility for group outcomes than other participants attribute to them. To assess whether the interactive component of the group endeavor is the locus of this self-centered bias, group members (N=80) worked on analogies either separately in coaction groups or together in interaction…

The assignment of special roles or specific skills within family units has been of considerable interest to researchers and clinicians. The present study attempted to understand how a variety of social, technical and artistic skills were attributed within families, and how this constellation related to reports of "quality of life" issues. It was…

People often perform poorly on tasks following experience with unsolvable problems. Two competing explanations for this performance deficit (learned helplessness and egotism) were tested. Subjects were given either solvable or unsolvable discrimination problems and then a series of anagrams which were alleged to be either highly or moderately…

This study examined the contribution of cognitively-oriented adjunct treatments to assertive training. Unassertive university students (N=42) were randomly assigned within an analysis of covariance design with three levels of treatment (Cognitive Self-Statement Training (CSST), Attribution Training (AT), and Behavioral Rehearsal (BR]. Multiple…

There is great public concern about illegitimate births among adolescents. The consequences of this early illegitimate childbirth have been treated in a simplistic manner to date. Several causes of the problems are: (1) young adolescents fail to prevent pregnancy when they feel there is little future or reward for them in society; (2) teenagers…

The Internal-External (I-E) Locus of Control scale (Rotter, 1966) was administered to 185 male and 185 female university students. The resulting scores were factored, producing two factors for males and four for females. The male factors were the generally-accepted "luck" and "powerful others"; for women, however, the "powerful others" dimension…

This paper presents three studies dealing with the use of attribution theory in the study of sex differences in achievement. These sex differences are measured in terms of task difficulty, ability, effort, and luck according to the model developed by Weiner, et al (1971). The studies attempt to expand the Weiner model to demonstrate that males and…

An analysis of perceived altruism was conducted within the framework of Kelley's (1973) attributional model. In a 2 by 2 factorial design, the consistency and distinctiveness of a donor's prosocial history were manipulated. Subjects were provided with written scenarios depicting the work of a voluntary welfare organization aiding the elderly.…

This study focused upon whether there was a difference in the perception by peers of the target child in a classroom discipline situation after approval-focused desists (e.g., "June, I don't like children who talk without permission.") and task-focused desists (e.g., "Jane, You will not finish your reading if you continue to talk."). Thirty-two…

Individual differences in self-attributions in a forced-compliance task and following manipulations of facial expressions were found to relate, suggesting that the self-attribution processes are similar and that variations among individuals in these processes are general across contents and inputs. (Author)

The author contends that research in the social sciences has witnessed a depersonalization of blame for individual misbehavior, and examines the process by which the blame for school discipline problems has been transferred from individual students to external factors. Recommendations are made for future research approaches. (Author/JAC)

College students predicted the situations which would produce the greatest affective result: academic success or failure, as caused by ability or by effort. Attributions to ability generated as much happiness, but less pride, in the case of success; and more unhappiness, but less shame, in the case of failure. (Author/GDC)

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)