Attribution theory

Question 1

What is attribution?

Answer 1

The perceived cause of a particular outcome

Question 2

What does attribution theory attempt to explain?

Answer 2

How individuals/teams evaluate their levels of success and failure and how these reasons may affect future achievement motivation in similar situations

Question 3

What can attributions effect?

Answer 3

Immediate reactions
Actual behaviour
Future aspirations
Expectations, motivation, future participation

Question 4

What are the 2 dimensions in Weiner’s model?

Answer 4

Locus of Causality - Internal/external factors

Locus of stability - Stable/unstable factor

Question 5

What are the 4 types of attribution?

Answer 5

Internal stable
Internal unstable
External stable
External unstable

Question 6

What is the example of Internal stable attribution?

Answer 6

Ability

Question 7

What is the example of internal unstable attribution?

Answer 7

Effort

Question 8

What is the example of external stable attribution?

Answer 8

Task difficulty

Question 9

What is the example of external unstable attribution?

Answer 9

Luck

Question 10

What is the problem with Weiner’s model?

Answer 10

Not sport specific - Roberts and Pascuzzi’s model relate it to sport

Question 11

How does Roberts and Pascuzzi’s model of attribution relate it to sport?

Answer 11

Internal stable - Ability
Internal unstable - Effort, behaviour, practice
External stable - Coaching
External unstable - Luck, teamworks, officials

Question 12

Positive example of ability

Answer 12

Won because good

Question 13

Negative example of ability

Answer 13

Lost because bad

Question 14

Positive example of effort

Answer 14

Won because worked hard

Lost because didn’t work hard

Question 15

Positive of task difficulty

Answer 15

Lost because opposition were good

Question 16

Negative of task difficulty

Answer 16

Won because opposition were bad

Question 17

Positive of luck

Answer 17

Lost because unlucky

Question 18

Negative of luck

Answer 18

Won because lucky

Question 19

What is self serving bias/attribution bias?

Answer 19

Performers that attribute failure to external causes or attribute success to internal causes.

Question 20

Is self serving bias positive or negative?

Answer 20

Positive

Maintains/improves confidence/motivation so success is expected

Question 21

Which attributions are uncontrollable?

Answer 21

Ability
Difficulty
Luck

Question 22

Which attribution are controllable?

Answer 22

Effort

Question 23

Why is ability uncontrollable?

Answer 23

It’s fixed and unlikely to change

Question 24

Why is difficulty uncontrollable (but kind of controllable)?

Answer 24

Can’t control opposition BUT

The more effort you put in, the easier the task

Question 25

Why is Luck uncontrollable?

Answer 25

You can't control the environment/referees decisions | Changes regularly

Question 26

Why is effort controllable?

Answer 26

You can change how hard you work

Question 27

What is mastery orientation?

Answer 27

When a high achiever has a strong desire to succeed and expects to succeed Performance is optimised

Question 28

What does a high achiever attribute failure/success to?

Answer 28

Failure - internal, unstable, controllable factors | Success - external, stable factors

Question 29

What is learned helplessness?

Answer 29

Belief that failure is inevitable and a feeling of hopelessness when faced with a particular situation(specific learned helplessness) or groups of situations (global learned helplessness)

Question 30

Is there any control over the cause of failure in learned helplessness?

Answer 30

No | Attribute failure to stable reasons which offer no hope for change in the future

Question 31

What does a low achiever attribute failure/success to?

Answer 31

Failure - Internal, stable factors | Success - External, uncontrollable

Question 32

What is attribution retraining?

Answer 32

Focusing the reasons for failure onto internal, unstable and controllable factors

Question 33

What are the strategies for the promotion of mastery orientation?

Answer 33

``` Increase self confidence Goal setting Positive experiences Positive reinforcement Verbal persuasion/cognitive dissonance ```

Question 34

How do you increase self confidence to promote mastery orientation?

Answer 34

Giving early success, positive reinforcement

Question 35

What goal setting do you use to promote mastery orientation?

Answer 35

Achievable, realistic, challenging, success increases confidence, more effort Performance and process goals

Question 36

How does positive reinforcement promote mastery orientation?

Answer 36

Praise effort, increases confidence/motivation

Question 37

How do you use verbal persuasion to reverse negative attitudes?

Answer 37

Persuader - role model Message - relevant Person - must want to change Other persuaders - help change attitude

Question 38

How is cognitive dissonance used to reverse negative attitudes?

Answer 38

Educate Make it fun Persuade them to do it

Question 39

What are the positive outcomes of attributing failure to internal factors?

Answer 39

Motivate to try harder Different training methods adopted Could lead to trying to reach mastery orientation High fitness levels worked for (unstable)

Question 40

What are the positive outcomes of attributing failure to external factors?

Answer 40

Keeps up morale Self-serving bias (protects self-esteem) Keep team-cohesion May lead to different tactics/footwear being adopted Eliminates shame Improve expectation of success in the future

Question 41

What are the negative outcomes of attributing failure to internal factors?

Answer 41

Could experience learned helplessness Decrease in motivation Lack of belief in future Deterioration of team cohesion

Question 42

What are the negative outcomes of attributing failure to external factors?

Answer 42

Could shield other real reasons for failure | Could lead to lack of improvement

Question 43

What are the positive outcomes of attributing success to internal factors?

Answer 43

Endorses mastery orientation Elevates confidence/self-esteem Develops pride Increases expectation of success in the future

Question 44

What are the negative outcomes of attributing success to external factors?

Answer 44

Takes away pride associated with success | Takes away the incentive value derived from mastery orientation`