attribution theory Flashcards
1
Q
attrubution theory
A
- An attribute is a reason given to explain something that has happened. So, Attribution Theory is a PERCEPTION of the reason for an outcome of an event.
- In sport, reasons are often given for winning and losing, or playing well/playing badly.
- Those reasons are given by the sporting leader (coach) or manager.
2
Q
A02
A
- arsene wenger - not taking any attribution for the game and blaming the referee
- eddie jones - blaming the players and saying they didn’t want to play for the team or have the attitude
3
Q
how do you think a player will feel/respond to hearing their coach talk about their performance? What could be the advantages and disadvantages of this?
A
- Not been given the blame - creating a bond , keep moral
- Been given the blame - dependant on person , motivate them
4
Q
motivation
A
- AO1 - The evaluation of a performance (by coach and player) can increase confidence and satisfaction.
- Praise from a coach to motivate a performer and make them look forward to next week’s game
- Vital for maintaining motivation and effort - important factor in task persistence.
- AO2 - hence, you will often hear a coach or manager deflect a loss away from the team or performer
5
Q
weiners model of attribution
A
- Weiner 1974, deduced that reasons given for winning and losing could be classified into two sections
- Locus of causality - internal and external
- locus of stability - stable and unstable
6
Q
The locus of causality
A
the point where a reason might be placed.
7
Q
internal attribute
A
Within the performers control
8
Q
external attribute
A
Outside the performers control
9
Q
locus of causality - classification of sporting attributes
A
- The reasons for winning can be either internal or external.
- These two dimensions are known as the causality of the attributes (how much control does the player have over the result).
-
AO2 - What internal attributes can you think of which we can apply to sporting performance?
Ability
Kit (to a certain extent)
Preparation
How much effort you put in -
AO2 - What external attributes can you think of which we can apply to sporting performance?
Weather
Officials
Schedule
Teammates and their preparations and effort
Opposition
Home or away
Kit
coach
10
Q
The Locus of Causality
A
- AO2 - If you think the result was down to you (i.e. playing well), then you have had some control over the result.
- If you think the result was due to a decision (i.e a red card from a referee), then you had no control over the outcome
- AO1 - Weiner suggested that personal internal control includes the things that can be taken control of, i.e. effort
- External control - includes things the players has little influence, such as luck, weather conditions or the referees decisions
11
Q
the stability dimension
A
- Stable attribute - Unlikely to change in the short-term
- Unstable attribute - Can change in a short amount of time
- Reasons for winning/losing can be changeable.
- A stable attribute could change over time, but not in the short term
- The stability dimension is therefore concerned with how changeable the reasons for winning and losing are.
- AO2 Examples
- If you believe you did not try hard enough in a game, then this can be easily put right next week (unstable attribute)
- If the opposition that beat you were the better team, it is likely they will still be a good team later in the season (stable attribute).
12
Q
Attribution and Effort
A
- AO1 - Coaches can use attribution theory to promote task persistence.
- The concept of self-serving bias can be used to help the process of promoting task persistence
- Self-serving bias helps to promote self esteem.
- To keep players happy and motivated, blame losing on a refereeing decision or a slice of bad luck
- EG: uses external and/or unstable reasons for losing
13
Q
self servining bias
A
- AO1 - A coach should make the players feel a loss can be changeable.
- Coach could use unstable, internal reasons (eg. amount of effort shown)
- AO2 EGs - coach may say ‘with a little more effort in the next game they could win’
- Coach could also use external, stable reasons such as they played fairly well but were up against a very good team
- AO1 - Coaches should always attribute a defeat to things that are either external or can be changed.
Never give reasons for losing that are stable and internal - AO2 - Example: if the coach stated that the player’s ability just isn’t good enough. This may cause a drop in motivation.
- AO3 IMPACT - which could cause learned helplessness to occur
14
Q
learned helplessness
A
- AO1 - When a performer begins to doubt if they can actually complete a task.
- Can make the performer believe they are no good at sport overall (general)
- It can also be specific to one event or sport
- Using internal stable reasons for losing
- AO2 - blame losing on their own ability
- A racket sport performers may believe they are no very good at badminton and tennis as they have had no early success
- If a performer thinks they are not good enough at squash, this could force them into making more errors on court
- AO3 IMPACT - the performer is so lacking in confidence that they think failure is inevitable; they have no belief in their ability
- Players may give up too early, even if they had a chance to win
- AO1 - Can develop by;
- Only attributing failure to internal and stable factors (ability).
- Negative feedback and criticism from coach and others
- A lack of success or negative experiences (performer consistently losing may not feel like they have the ability to achieve)
15
Q
Attribution Retraining
A
- AO1 - Changing the reasons given for success and failure.
- The key to attribution retraining is to change the perception and belief of the performer by changing the reason for failure
- A coach should revert to the Weiner Model and change the reasons for failure to external unstable ones.
- Move away form blaming players ability so they players begins to believe it was down to external reasons, like luck of task difficulty
- AO1 How?
- Coach should maintain motivation via positive reinforcement.
- Allow early success so that confidence in ability is achieved.
- Set achievable goals - play opponents of similar ability
- Stress any personal improvement made during the game and stress that it was down to the performer.
- These strategies can help promote self-esteem and confidence
16
Q
Mastery Orientation - This is the opposite of learned helplessness.
A
- Performers’ confidence is high, they have a belief in their ability and think success can be repeated.
- They believe failure is both temporary and changeable
- Performers with mastery orientation will display approach behaviour (NACH) and will continue even if they do not succeed the first time
