Attribution of responsibility and valence of success and failure in relation to initial confidence and task performance.

Abstract

Subjects worked at a 10-item Anagrams Test containing items of approximately 50% difficulty. Before they began they rated how confident they were that they could pass the test (i.e., solve 5 anagrams or more). After they finished they recorded the number of anagrams they had solved, the degree to which they felt that their performance was due to ability (internal attribution) or luck (external attribution), and their degree of satisfaction with performance. It was found that the unexpected success was more often attributed to good luck than the expected success and was associated with greater satisfaction. The unexpected failure was more often attributed to bad luck than the expected failure and was associated with greater dissatisfaction. Subjects who just passed or just failed the test were more likely to engage in external attribution than subjects with extreme scores in either direction. Performance was positively related to initial confidence. Females were lower in initial confidence, higher in external attribution, and higher in feelings of inadequacy than were males. Results were discussed in terms of Heiderian theory and a valence-diffic ulty model. The present study had two main aims. First it attempted to clarify the conditions that influence the way in which a person assigns responsibility for the outcome when he succeeds or fails at a task. This attribution of responsibilit y may be internal, in which case success or failure is seen as mainly reflecting characteristics of the self (e.g., ability and skill), or the attribution may be external, in which case the outcome is seen as primarily due to outside influences over which the person has little or no control (e.g., luck). The following questions were investigated: When a person succeeds at a task, what factors determine whether he attributes his success to his own ability (internal control) or to good luck (external control)? And when he fails at a task, what factors determine whether he attributes his failure to his own lack of ability (internal control) or to bad luck (external control)? The second aim of the study was to investigate factors that influence the degree to 1The analysis of results reported in this paper was supported by a grant from the Australian Research Grants Committee.