Attribution Theory

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Attribution Theory

• The importance of giving appropriate reasons
  for success or failure in Sport
• Why did you win/loose recent games?
• What reasons did you give?
• What did your coach say it occured?
• If we can feel good about reasons for success
  OR if we can blame something else for losing we
  should continue to try in the future.
• Attributions are important
• Because they affect motivation, which in turn
  affects future performances, future effort and
  whether the individual will continue to
  participate

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• Young person told they failed because they do not
  have enough ability to suceed unlikely to
  try again
• If they are told they need to try harder
  more likely to continue
• Attribution Training
• Attribution theory is important in sport because
  it affects future effort
• If we think that reasons for success are stable
  and we are accountable for them, we will have the
  confidence and continue to improve.
• If you believe that reasons for failure are
  changeable, you can change the future results and
  influence the performance

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Attribution The Theory

• ATTRIBUTION (REASONS) THEORY
• Attribution theory is concerned with the reasons
  (attributions) performers give to their success
  or failure
• Weiner suggested that high achievers and low
  achievers attribute success and failure to
  different reasons
• To become a high achiever the performer must
  think like a high achiever they must make
  attributions like a high achiever
• Weiners 4 Attributions
• Ability
• Effort
• Luck
• Task Difficulty

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• The 4 attributions can be placed along 2
  dimensions
• Locus of Causality
• Stability

Locus of Causality Whether the performance
outcome could be caused by factors under the
control of the performer (internal factors of
effort and ability) OR Caused by factors beyond
the control of the performer (external factors of
task difficulty and luck) Copy diagram p.174
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The Locus of Stability

• Stability
• Whether the performance outcome is fixed and
  unchanging OR can vary over time.
• Ability and Task difficulty are STABLE and FIXED
  during the period of performance.
• Effort and luck may change (UNSTABLE) from
  performance to performance OR within a
  performance
• High Achievers attribute success to INTERNAL
  factors
• failure to EXTERNAL factors
• Low Achievers attribute success to EXTERNAL
  factors
• failure to STABLE factors

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SELF SERVING BIAS

• The tendency of performers to attribute success
  to themselves
• Therefore these will be INTERNAL reasons
• ALSO
• Reasons for failure might be attributed to
  external/changeable reasons
• EG
• It was the referees fault we lost
• This demonstrates a tendency to protect ones
  self esteem

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Learned Helplessness

• Redefine success where ability is the reason for
  failure
• Acknowledge the need to change attributions
  (attribution retraining) to those appropriate to
  high achievers
• If the performer is a low achiever, learn how to
  attribute success and failure to the same reasons
  given by high achievers
• Be aware that low achievers often suffer from
  Learned Helplessness
• L.H is the problem caused by continually
  attributing failure to INTERNAL reasons that can
  not be changed (Dweck 1978)
• Failure is blamed on lack of ability and is out
  of your own control because you will never be
  able to change the situation

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Learned Helplessness Cont

• Performers with LH think that
• - Failure is inevitable
• - What they do makes little difference to the
  outcome
• - Success might be due to luck and not
  repeatable
• LH can be global or specific
• LH can be based on
• - Lack of success
• - Low confidence
• - A bad experience
• In order to control LH, a change in the
  attribution process must take place this is
  known as Attribution retraining
• Mastery Orientation is the opposite to LH. An
  athlete has confidence, they feel in control,
  have a history of success

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Attribution Retraining A reassessment of the
reasons for failure

• We must promote the changeable and external
  reasons
• The coach might
• change in tactics or blame equipment
• adopt a positive approach
• make the reasons for losing less personal
• avoid citing lack of ability as a reason for
  failure
• use positive feedback and positive reinforcement
• encourage a change of technique
• attribute success internally (effort/ability)
  and failure externally (luck/task difficulty)

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• ATTRIBUTION THEORY AND ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION
• What can it be used for?
• A coach should try to make the performer
• Attribute success to internal factors in order to
  maximize confidence and satisfaction
• Attribute success to stable factors in order to
  maximize the expectation of future success
• Attribute failure to external factors in order to
  minimize negative feelings
• Attribute failure to unstable factors in order to
  minimize the expectations of future losses. Be
  careful when attributing failure to lack of
  effort if the performer has tried their hardest.

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Attribution Theory and Achievement Motivation

• ATTRIBUTION The Main Points
• Individuals often make INTERNAL attributions for
  success and EXTERNAL attributions for failure
• As performers we like to feel responsible for
  success but that failure was due to factors
  beyond our control
• Stability is usually related to future
  expectations. If we attribute success or failure
  to stable factors next time we compete we will
  expect the same result.
• High and low achievers attribute success and
  failure to different factors

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January 2008
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Jan 08