Sports Psychology - Attributions Flashcards
What is an attribution?
A reason we give for our performance
Describe weiners model of attribution
Which headings come under the stability dimension
Stable and unstable
Which headings come under the locus of control dimension
Internal and external
Which attribution is stable and internal
Ability
Which attribution is stable and external
Task difficulty
Which attribution is unstable and external
Luck
What is mastery orientation
Attribution of failure to internal, controllable and unstable factors such as effort, so that you continue to strive to be better
Which reasons should you attribute a loss to in order to lead someone to a mastery orientation approach to sports
Internal, controllable, unstable factors - effort
What is learned helplessness
The belief that failure is inevitable, a feeling of hopelessness with a particular situation, or group of situations.
What are the two types of learned helplessness?
Specific learned helplessness
Global learned helplessness
What is the difference between specific learned helplessness and global learned helplessness
Specific learned helplessness = belief that failure is inevitable in a specific situation (e.g. I will miss a penalty in football)
Global learned helplessness = belief that failure is inevitable in a group of situations (e.g. I will be bad at all sports)
Which reasons should you attribute a loss in order to avoid learned helplessness
External, unstable factors - luck
What is meant by the term ‘self serving bias’
A persons tendency to attribute failure to external reasons to explain poor performance so they don’t feel bad about themselves / to maintain confidence.
Which attributions for a loss would be used as a self serving bias?
External reasons such as task difficulty or luck
Give examples of how a coach can use attributes to reduce learned helplessness
Attribute failure to external factors such as luck so that the performer doesn’t think it is their fault, and therefore doesn’t lose self esteem.
e.g. ‘you were unlucky in todays game, as the referee decisions didn’t go your way, and that’s why you lost’.
Give examples of how a coach can use attributions to encourage a mastery orientation and therefore optimise performance.
A coach should attribute success to internal, factors such as ability or effort to make them want to keep trying hard to improve further and be more successful. A coach should attribute failure to effort, so they know they can win if they try harder next time.
e.g. ‘you won today because you have worked really hard at training to improve your skills. Making them want to carry on working hard.
Or they could attribute a loss to ability, highlighting how they could win next time if they improve their ability by learning a new/advanced skill.
e.g. you didn’t win today because the gymnast who came first performed a triple backflip, that you haven’t learnt to do yet. If you train hard and learn that, then you can beat them next time.
