Attribution Flashcards
What is an attribution?
a reason for their performance/why they won or lost
What is weiner’s model?
a model to show attributions for success or failure
What is the locus of causality?
where the performer places the reason they won or lost (internally or externally)
What is the stability dimension?
how fixed/changeable the attributions are
Describe the two places where winning or losing can be attributed to?
internally - within the performer, so their ability or their effort
externally - outside the performer’s control, so luck or the difficulty of the task at hand
What are the stable attributions and what are the unstable attributions?
stable - ability and task difficulty
unstable - effort and luck
Which factors are within the personal control of the performer and if success or failure is attributed personally, what can this lead to?
ability and effort
If success is attributed personally, it can cause motivation, pride and satisfaction to increase.
If failure is attributed personally it can cause learned helplessness
Who and when would attribute externally?
when the performer failed as this can maintain motivation as the performer feels it wasn’t their fault, they were just unlucky on the day or the opposition are just too good
What is learned helplessness?
the feeling that failure is inevitable
How does learned helplessness develop?
when a performer attributes failure to internal stable reasons (not good enough)
How can learned helplessness be reduced?
changing negative attributions to positive ones through attribution retraining
Name some strategies to avoid learned helplessness
set realistic process and performance goals
raise self efficacy
remind of previous good performances
give positive reinforcement
use stress management techniques
What is mastery orientation?
A characteristic of high achievers who have a feeling of being in total control of the outcome and will persist even when failing.
What is self serving bias?
a performer identifies external and/or unstable reasons for failure and internal reasons for success
