Attribution Flashcards
Definition of attribution
The process of ascribing reasons for, or causes to events and behaviours
OR
The process of ascribing reasons for success or failure
What are the 3 dimensions of Weiner’s model of attribution?
Locus of causality, Stability, Locus of control
Explain the locus of causality
-Whether the attributions come from within the person (internal) or from the environment (external), and effects the persons feeling of pride, confidence and shame
-Internal: comes from within the performer (eg. how hard a player works)
-External: comes from the environment (eg. ability of opposition)
Explain the locus of stability
-Whether the attribution is changeable or unchangeable, and affects a persons expectations of future outcomes
-Stable and Unstable
-Stable: unlikely to change in the short term (eg. ability)
-Unstable: changeable in the short term (eg. weather conditions)
Who created the model of attribution?
Weiner
What are stable attributions?
Ability, task difficulty
What are unstable attributions?
Effort, luck
What are internal attributions?
Ability, effort
What are external attributions?
Task difficulty, luck
What is a sporting example of luck?
The court was slippy, the rider in first place hit a pot hole
What is a sporting example of task difficulty?
The opposition were world champions, the oppositions team had lots of injuries
What is a sporting example of ability?
We were more skilful, the opposition has more skill than us
What is a sporting example of effort?
We tried hard, we didn’t put much training into this game
Explain the locus of control
-3rd dimension that was added to Weiners model later
-Considers the extent to which an outcome is under control
-Controllable, uncontrollable
-Controllable: under control of others (eg. coach) or performer, something can be done to change the outcome
(eg. how hard you work)
-Uncontrollable: under no one’s control, nothing can be done to change the outcome
(eg. bias referee, ability of opposition)
-Directly affects performers motivation
What is an internal, stable, uncontrollable attribution?
Ability
What is an internal, unstable, controllable attribution?
Effort
What is an external, unstable, controllable attribution?
Task difficulty
What is an external, unstable, uncontrollable attribution?
Luck
What are controllable attributions?
Effort
What are uncontrollable attributions?
Ability, difficulty, luck
What are internal attributions?
Ability, effort
What are external attributions?
Task difficulty, luck
What are stable attributions?
Ability, task difficulty
What are unstable attributions?
Effort, luck
What is learned helplessness?
-A belief that failure is inevitable, feeling of hopelessness
-Attribute failures to internal, stable, uncontrollable attributions
What is mastery orientation?
-Individual who is motivated to become an expert, a feeling of being in control of the outcome
-Attributes failures to internal, stable, uncontrollable factors
What is self-serving bias?
-A persons tendency to attribute their failure to external reasons
-Limits shame
-Protects self-esteem and motivation
-May mean that improvements are never made
What is attribution retraining?
-Can help to optimise performance, attributions need to be assessed in order to succeed in the future
-A person should be encouraged to attribute to controllable, unstable factors (eg. Group of hockey players who just lost a hockey match, encouraged to give attributions such as ‘we must train and try harder next week”, these are internal,stable, controllable attributions
When is attribution retraining used?
To change learned helplessness into mastery orientation
If failure is attributed to stable reasons what is the impact?
-Task difficulty, ability
-Failure is expected to be repeated, lowers motivation
What is the influence/impact of attributions?
Motivation, confidence, pride, future expectations on success and persistence
If failure is attributed to unstable reasons what is the impact?
-Luck, effort, weather, tactics
-Performer believes outcome could change, is motivated to change the outcome in the future
If failure is attributed to controllable reasons what is the impact?
-Effort, tactics
-Motivation increases, performer believes something can be done to change future outcomes
If failure is attributed to uncontrollable reasons what is the impact?
-Luck, ref, weather
-Motivation decreases
What is the cause of learned helplessness?
Learned helplessness can develop if performer attributes failure to internal,stable,uncontrollable factors (eg. ability)
How is learned helplessness prevented?
-If performer attributes failure to external, unstable, controllable reasons
-This can be done through attribution retraining
What is the effect of learned helplessness?
Can lead to a performer to give up/believe they can’t change anything/ they have no control over the outcome
OR
Attributing failure to internal/stable/uncontrollable reasons can lead to a performer to give up/believe they will never succeed
What is the cause of mastery orientation?
Develop if a performer attributes failure to internal, controllable, unstable reasons
What is the effect of mastery orientation?
Motivate a performer to strive to improve/feeling of being in control of outcome, learn from failure/ believe that they can change the outcome in future
If failure is attributed to self serving bias what is the impact?
-External, unstable
-Protects self esteem
If failure is attributed to internal reasons (-ve effect) what is the impact?
-Ability, effort
-Pride/confidence/motivation decreases, then shame increases
If failure is attributed to internal reasons (+ve effect) what is the impact?
-Ability, effort
-Motivation can increase
If failure is attributed to external reasons (-ve effect) what is the impact?
-Luck, task difficulty, weather, ref
-It could shield the real reason for failure, lead to a lack of improvement
If failure is attributed to external reasons (+ve effect) what is the impact?
-Luck, task difficulty, weather, ref
-Pride/confidence/motivation will be retained, shame wont be felt
Draw a model that represents the process of attribution
