Attribution
Home learning Annotate the two articles using green pen to highlight aspects of attribution theory
Home learning
Football Challenge
MOTD
ATTRIBUTION “The perceived reasons for success or failure of an event or pattern of behaviour” (James et al 2009:186)
By the end of the lesson you will be able to answer the following questions:
Task difficulty Ability Effort Luck LOCUS OF CAUSALITY Internal External Task difficulty Ability Stable STABILITY Effort Luck Unstable
Connector Watch the following videos and note the reasons for the issues they raised: Fergie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmvBWsmdeCU Arsene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTWBUNT-SY4
Key words Attribution theory Locus of causality Locus of stability Locus of control Self-serving bias Controllability Learned helplessness
Attribution Individuals actively attach personal meaning to behaviour outcomes. For example, if I win a game of table tennis, I might attribute the victory to my ability or the poor table or equipment There are 4 main categories of attribution (Weiner, 1972)
Task difficulty Ability Effort Luck LOCUS OF CAUSALITY Internal External Task difficulty Ability Stable STABILITY Effort Luck Unstable
Locus of causality This dimension classifies the outcome as internal or external. Internal attributions come from within the participant. Examples include effort, concentration, fitness, ability, motivation. External attributions are anything external from the individual. Examples include the weather, officials, opponents, luck.
Stability This dimension relates to whether the cause of the outcome is consistent or will fluctuate. Stable factors might be equipment, timing, ability, opponents’ ability (depending on competition). Unstable factors might be effort, luck, officials, etc.
Weiner’s model with examples
Revised attribution theory (Weiner, 1985) Controllability – added dimension This dimension assesses whether the outcome was under the personal control of the individual or under the control of other people. For example, an athlete might run a personal best time, but still lose. Roger Black in the 1996 Olympics is an example – he new he couldn’t beat Michael Johnson and aimed to win silver
Task – How many attributions can you enter into the grid? LOCUS OF CAUSALITY Internal External Stable STABILITY Unstable
Attribution, emotion, and performance (Biddle & Hill, 1992) Winners attributed success to their effort, motivation, personality, and good form Losers attributed their outcome to their lack of experience, opponent’s effort, and opponent’s ability Winners were more satisfied, pleased, and contented than losers Losers who rated winning as important reported higher ratings of negative feelings than losers where importance was lower
What did they attribute their reasons towards? Fergie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmvBWsmdeCU Arsene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTWBUNT-SY4
Exam tips Be able to draw and interpret Weiner’s model and make sure it is labeled correctly Describe practical examples to explain the attributions following a variety of results. To maintain a performer’s motivation you can attribute loss or failure to any other factors other than internal stable factors
In groups of 2 or 3, consider the following issue... You were victorious in one game and experienced defeat in another game List the reasons for the outcome Draw Weiner’s two dimensional model and place each of the named reasons into the different categories Discuss your findings
Attribution retraining Make notes from page 189
Learned helplessness This term describes when a person expects to fail. This expectation is based on previous experiences of failure. They attribute failure to lack of ability (internal and stable).
Expecting to fail Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re probably right. (Henry Ford) The self-fulfilling prophecy occurs when someone expects to fail, and consequently does.
How can we overcome learned-helplessness? Guarantee some success. Set short-term goals, that are somewhat challenging but that will be achieved relatively quickly. Give positive reinforcement. Give lots of encouragement. While rewards can be used, the coach should focus on enhancing intrinsic motivation, self-esteem, and self-efficacy. What are the 3 most effective strategies? Pg 191
Summary Attribution is the process of identifying what caused an outcome. How we attribute outcomes will influence our self-efficacy and motivation. Sustained negative attribution could lead to low self-esteem and learned helplessness. Failure should be attributed to external, unstable, or uncontrollable factors. Success should be attributed to internal, stable, or controllable factors.
Exam questions 2006
Exam answers - 2006