Attribution

Question 1

whats attribution?

Answer 1

the way people explain the reasons for success or failures

Question 2

what is Weiners attribution theory?

Answer 2

weiner proposed that acheivement is related to the attribution that we make.

He stated that we tend to give reasons for winning and loosing in 4 ways, ability, effort, task difficulty and luck.

They can be catorgorised into the locus of causality dimention (internal and exerntal) and the stability dimension (stable and unstable).

ability is stable and internal
task difficulty is stable and external
effort is internal and stable
luck is external and unstable

DEVELOPMENTS OF THE THEORY
- locus of controllability = you can only control the effort you put in. You cant control the luck, task difficulty or your ability

Question 3

what can attributions explain about the performer?

Answer 3

the **performers motivation **
their **expectations **
the level and satisfaction of performance
their task percistance or effort

Question 4

how do attributions link to self efficacy?

Answer 4

correct attributions can help motivation and self efficacy (self serving bias)
incorrect attributions can damage players self efficacy (learned helplessness)

Question 5

whats self serving bias?

Answer 5

its the correct use of attributions, which protects self esteem, self confidence, self efficacy and avoids learned helplessness.
INTERNALISE SUCCESS AND EXTERNALISE FAILURES
meaning if you win its because of your effort or ability not luck or task difficulty
and meaning if you lose its because of luck or task difficulty

Question 6

whats learned helplessness?

Answer 6

performers see failure as inevitable, they have low self esteem and they give up easily.
They EXTERNALISE SUCCESS AND INTERNALISE FAILURE
meaning if they win it is due to luck or task difficulty and not effort or ability
and meaning if they lose its due to effort or ability, particularly ability

Question 7

What strategies can a coach use to help a performer who is experiencing learned helplessness?

Answer 7

give **positive feedback **
encourage realistic goals
avoid social comparisons
use mental rehearsal, visualisation, positive self talk
ATTRIBUTION RETRAINING
provide opportunity for success

Question 8

whats attribution retraining?

Answer 8

changing attributions so that they have a positive effect

athelets taught to attribute losses to changeable factors rather than ability. from learned helplessness (incorrect attributions) to self serving bias (correct attributions)

Question 9

what are the extra strategies which could help attribution retraining?

Answer 9

Video analysis
setting goals
record and discuss your attributions for success and failure

Question 10

what are the errors in attribution retraining

Answer 10

Gender bias :
* women often attribute wins to luck and have a lower expectancy of success
* males often attribute success to ability and failures to external factors

ACTOR OBSERVER effect :
* attributions differ depending on whether the individual is an actor or an observer.
* e.g. actor - external factors “I missed my tennis serve because the sun was in my eye”
* e.g. observer - internal factors “they dropped the catch because they are awful at catching”

NACH :
* success to ability
* failure to luck
* high self efficacy
*** self serving bias **

NAF
* failure to ability
* success to luck
*** learned helplessness **
* low self efficacy