Chapter 4: Attributional Processes

1
Chapter 4Attributional Processes

• Notes from class textbook
• Pintrich, P.R., Schunk, D.H. (1996).
  Motivation in Education Theory, Research,
  Applications. Englewood Cliff, NJ Prentice
  Hall.

2
Attribution Theory

• Cognitive theory of motivation
• Based on general godlike metaphor of individual
• Suggests that individuals are conscious,
  rational, all-knowing decision makers

3
Assumption 1

• Individuals are motivated by a goal of
  understanding and mastering the environment
  themselves.
• Does not propose any other goals, needs. motives,
  or drives

4
Assumption 2

• People are naïve scientists, trying to understand
  their environment and, in particular, trying to
  understand the causal determinants of their own
  behavior as well as the behavior of others.
• As a function of their search for mastery,
  individuals seek to understand why things happen
  and why people say and do the things that they
  do.

5
Antecedent Conditions

• Environmental factors
• Personal factors

6
Perceived Causes

• Ability
• Effort
• Luck
• Task Difficulty

• Teacher
• Mood
• Health
• Fatigue

7
Causal Dimensions

• Stability
• Locus
• Controllability

8
Stability

• How stable the attribution is over time.
• Ranges from stable to unstable.
• Refers to whether the cause is fixed and stable
  or whether it is variable and unstable across
  situations and over time.

9
Locus

• Whether a cause is perceived as being internal or
  external to the individual.
• Relates to the relative influence of personal and
  environmental factors on an individuals behavior.

10
Controllability

• Refers to how much control a person has over a
  cause.
• Weiner argues that there may also be causes that
  are external to the individual that are not
  controllable by that individual but are
  controllable by others.

11
Psychological Consequences

• Expectancy for success
• Self-efficacy
• Affect

12
Expectancy-for-Success Beliefs

• Attribution for success made that is internal and
  stable, then student will expect to succeed in
  future.
• If attribution for success is made that is
  unstable, then individual will not expect to do
  as well in the future

13
Expectancy-for-Failure Beliefs

• More adaptive to make unstable and controllable
  attributions for failure situations.
• Stable, internal, and uncontrollable attributions
  for failure have the most detrimental
  consequences for future expectancies for success.

14
Behavioral Consequences

• Choice
• Persistence
• Level of effort
• Achievement