attribution in sport Flashcards
attribution
the perceived cause of a particular outcome
the reasons we give for the results we achieve
example of attribution
e.g. a netball coach may say reason for winning was the team’s high level of effort
e.g. a football player says that bad weather conditions may be reason for losing
what is attribution is linked to?
- linked to motivation
- as our attributions will directly affect our future efforts and performance
= whether they continue to participate in sport
Weiner’s model of attribution
- there’s 4 different reasons to which an athlete can attribute their success or failure
- contains two dimensions:
- stability -= whether the attribution can change or not
- locus of causality = whether the athlete is able to influence the outcome e.g. comes from within the person (internal) or from the environment (external)
–>
2x2 table
expectancy of results = stability
affective response = locus of causality
- ability
- task difficulty
- luck
- effort
ability
internally perceived locus + stable
largely unchangeable but could get better over time
UNCONTROLLABLE
task difficulty
externally perceived locus + stable
athlete has no influence over it and is largely unchangeable
UNCONTROLLABLE
effort
internally perceived locus + unstable
can be altered through their own actions
CONTROLLABLE
luck
externally perceived locus + unstable
can be seen to fluctuate depending on the situation
UNCONTROLLABLE
how will an individual be motivated to win again?
if reasons for winning are stable e.g. ability + task difficulty is good, individual will be motivated to win again
how will an individual be motivated from failure?
if reasons for failure are unstable, luck + effort, individual wil be more likely to try again because there is a chance the outcome will change
controllability
3rd dimension
whether attributions are under control of the performer or under the control of others e.g. weather is uncontrollable
coaches tend to praise effort + controllable success and criticise/ punish lack of effort and controllable failures
concentrating on uncontrollable and stable factors e..g ability, is not much use if you want to turn failure into success
self-serving bias
when sports performers lose attribute their failure to external causes (task difficulty/ luck) + their success to internal causes (ability/ effort)
e.g. i lost the badminton match because the floor was too slippery
= protects their self-esteem and motivation
- doesn’t actually solve problem or help improve your mistakes
