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Performance attributions: Effects of mood and involvement.
Abstract
A 2 (good vs bad mood) × 2 (important vs unimportant) × 2 (success vs failure) experimental design was used to investigate whether importance could moderate mood effects on students' performance attributions. Attributions were analyzed in terms of their underlying dimensions (locus, stability, and controllability) as specified by B. Weiner (1985). Undergraduate business students (31 men, 49 women) were randomly assigned to 1 of the 8 experimental conditions. Analysis revealed a significant 3-way interaction of mood, importance, and performance outcome (p
... De plus, la façon dont le lecteur se perçoit comme acteur dans son apprentissage est aussi une variable affective qui influe sur la compréhension. En effet, selon Curren et Harich (1993), lorsque le lecteur a tendance à attribuer ses réussites ou ses échecs à des facteurs externes (hasard), il en vient à éprouver un sentiment d'incapacité du fait qu'il croit ne pas avoir la maîtrise de son apprentissage. Par ailleurs, la variable texte du modèle de compréhension concerne le matériel à lire et peut être considérée sous trois aspects : l'intention de l'auteur, la structure du texte et le contenu (Giasson, 2007). ...
The objective of this study is to examine relations between two types of early measures provided to help pupils to overcome their learning difficulties – grade retention and systems of specialized assistance for pupils in difficulty –, reading ability in primary school, and young children's self-esteem. This research was carried through thanks to the participation of 468 pupils in the 1st and 2nd graders, out of which 107 were followed longitudinally. Fundamental mechanisms children develop when they learn to read are assessed through a task of written word identification test (Khomsi, 1997). Self-esteem is considered thanks to a measuring instrument of self-esteem adapted from Self Perception Profile (Hater, 1982). The analyses performed on this test attest to satisfactory psychometric properties. A second study highlights the fact that pedagogical decisions about grade retention and systems of specialized assistance for pupils in difficulty seem to be justified. However, they are not effective enough to remedy to the difficulties of reading development. Finally, a third study tests a model which postulates that pedagogical decisions influence general self-esteem which, in return, has an impact on reading development.
... Las relaciones que se establecen entre atribuciones y emociones consiguientes vienen a resumirse así (Bueno Álvarez, 1995;Curren y Harich, 1993;Weiner, Russell y Lerman, 1979): en cuanto a los resultados del éxito, la felicidad es experimentada de forma uniforme, independientemente de la causa percibida de éxito. Sin embargo, otras emociones están correlacionadas con atribuciones específicas. ...
Las buenas prácticas docentes inclusivas han de atender al alumnado que por aspectos educativos o sociales, presentan dificultades para su inclusión académica. Facilitar el éxito académico es una parte importante de una enseñanza inclusiva de calidad.
A 2 (good vs bad mood) × 2 (important vs unimportant) × 2 (success vs failure) experimental design was used to investigate whether importance could moderate mood effects on students' performance attributions. Attributions were analyzed in terms of their underlying dimensions (locus, stability, and controllability) as specified by B. Weiner (1985). Undergraduate business students (31 men, 49 women) were randomly assigned to 1 of the 8 experimental conditions. Analysis revealed a significant 3-way interaction of mood, importance, and performance outcome (
p
This study contributes to the literature on automation reliance by illuminating the influences of user moods and emotions on reliance on automated systems.
Past work has focused predominantly on cognitive and attitudinal variables, such as perceived machine reliability and trust. However, recent work on human decision making suggests that affective variables (i.e., moods and emotions) are also important. Drawing from the affect infusion model, significant effects of affect are hypothesized. Furthermore, a new affectively laden attitude termed liking is introduced.
Participants watched video clips selected to induce positive or negative moods, then interacted with a fictitious automated system on an X-ray screening task At five time points, important variables were assessed including trust, liking, perceived machine accuracy, user self-perceived accuracy, and reliance.These variables, along with propensity to trust machines and state affect, were integrated in a structural equation model.
Happiness significantly increased trust and liking for the system throughout the task. Liking was the only variable that significantly predicted reliance early in the task. Trust predicted reliance later in the task, whereas perceived machine accuracy and user self-perceived accuracy had no significant direct effects on reliance at any time.
Affective influences on automation reliance are demonstrated, suggesting that this decision-making process may be less rational and more emotional than previously acknowledged.
Liking for a new system may be key to appropriate reliance, particularly early in the task. Positive affect can be easily induced and may be a lever for increasing liking.
Much is known about attribution processes and attributional effects, yet little is known about how people actually think about causes. This question has usually been addressed in the form, “Which causal dimensions do people use?” rather than “How do people think about causes?.” A review of the literature revealed three main confusions. First, scientific description of attributional effects on outcome variables is confused with phenomenal description of how people think about causes. Second, whether or not people can think about a particular dimension is confused with whether or not people do think in terms of that dimension. Third, whether or not people can think of causes in dimensional terms is confused with whether people typically think of causes in a dimensional versus categorical fashion. Necessary criteria for examination of the phenomenal description question were discussed. New data meeting those criteria were presented. The main findings were: (1) Strong evidence that people typically think in categorical terms; (2) Weak evidence that people may also typically think of a few standard attribution dimensions; (3) Strong evidence that a major concern of people when thinking about causes is personal control; (4) Strong evidence that several standard attribution dimensions are not represented in people's typical thoughts about causes, specifically, stability, globality, and control-by-someone. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.
Tested the 2-process theory of detection, search, and attention presented by the current authors (1977) in a series of experiments. The studies (a) demonstrate the qualitative difference between 2 modes of information processing: automatic detection and controlled search; (b) trace the course of the learning of automatic detection, of categories, and of automatic-attention responses; and (c) show the dependence of automatic detection on attending responses and demonstrate how such responses interrupt controlled processing and interfere with the focusing of attention. The learning of categories is shown to improve controlled search performance. A general framework for human information processing is proposed. The framework emphasizes the roles of automatic and controlled processing. The theory is compared to and contrasted with extant models of search and attention. (31/2 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Two experiments with 96 undergraduates tested the hypothesis that high issue involvement enhances thinking about the content of a persuasive communication. Exp I varied involvement and the direction of a message (pro- or counterattitudinal). Increasing involvement enhanced persuasion for the proattitudinal but reduced persuasion for the counterattitudinal advocacy. Exp II again varied involvement, but both messages took a counterattitudinal position. One message employed compelling arguments and elicited primarily favorable thoughts, whereas the other employed weak arguments and elicited primarily counterarguments. Increasing involvement enhanced persuasion for the strong message but reduced persuasion for the weak one. Together the experiments provide support for the view that high involvement with an issue enhances message processing and therefore can result in either increased or decreased acceptance. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
A shortcoming of previous attribution research has been the assumption that researchers can accurately translate causal attributions into causal dimensions. Attributional statements are often ambiguous and even when clearly stated may be perceived quite differently by the attributor and the researcher. The studies reported describe the development of the Causal Dimension Scale, a measure designed to assess how the attributor perceives the causes he or she has stated for an event. This scale assesses causal perceptions in terms of the locus of causality, stability, and controllability dimensions described by B. Weiner (1979). Two studies (288 undergraduates) tested the reliability and validity of the Causal Dimension Scale. All 3 subscales were found to be reliable and valid, and a 3-mode factor analysis confirmed the 3-dimensional structure of the scale. Results also indicate differences in the perception of causes of success and failure, with attributions for success being perceived as more internal, stable, and controllable than attributions for failure. The relationship between the Causal Dimension Scale and other attribution measures (such as locus of control or "attributional style" measures) is discussed. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The history of motivational research in education is traced through chapters on motivation in the
Encyclopedia of Educational Research from 1941 to 1990. Discussion of the drive concept, the motivation–learning distinction, the role of individual differences, and the emergence of cognitive concerns and the self are examined. Great shifts are documented, and current as well as future trends are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Investigates the effectiveness in enhancing academic self-concept of an intervention delivered by primary school teachers and researchers. Ss were 162 students from a primary school in metropolitan Sydney, Australia, who scored in approximately the lowest 3 quarters of their class on academic self-concept. The intervention was a combination of internally focused performance feedback and attributional feedback. The researcher-administered treatment produced modest enhancement of self-concept in target facets (reading and mathematics) and in related facets (school and general) but did not affect 3 areas of self-concept that were unrelated to the intervention. This treatment increased Ss' attributions to effort in success situations. The teacher-administered treatment did not significantly affect either self-concept or self-attributions. The findings (1) provide some support for the effectiveness of the researcher-administered treatment as an intervention to enhance self-concept and (2) further indicate the importance of considering the multidimensionality of self-concept in intervention studies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Two experiments examined the linkages between cognitions and emotions. In the 1st investigation, 79 undergraduates reported a "critical incident," in which they succeeded or failed an exam for a particular reason (e.g., help from others, lack of long-term effort). They then recounted 3 affects that were experienced. The data reveal prevalent affects linked with success and failure regardless of the attribution for the outcome. Many emotions identified were associated with specific attributions (e.g., luck–surprise; others–gratitude and others–anger); dimensions of causal attributions, such as locus, also influenced recollected feeling states, particularly esteem-related emotions. It is proposed that in achievement-related contexts there are 3 sources of affect elicited by disparate cognitions. The 2nd experiment demonstrated that 48 undergraduates used emotional cues to infer why a success or a failure had occurred. The proposed cognition–emotion and emotion–cognition couplings appeared to be symmetrical. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Hypothesized that when a persuasive communication was on a topic of (a) high personal relevance, attitude change was governed by issue-relevant arguments, and (b) low personal relevance, peripheral features were more important. 145 undergraduates expressed their attitudes on the issue of comprehensive senior exams after exposure to a counterattitudinal advocacy that was of high or low personal relevance containing either strong or weak arguments that emanated from a source of either high or low expertise. Another 18 Ss were controls who were surveyed but not exposed to a counterattitudinal advocacy. Interactions of the personal relevance manipulation with the argument quality and expertise manipulations revealed that under high relevance (the exams were to be instituted the following year), attitudes were influenced primarily by the quality of the arguments in the message, whereas under low relevance (the exams were to be instituted in 10 years), attitudes were influenced primarily by the expertise of the source. It is suggested that an increase in involvement is associated with an increase in the importance of message arguments because people are motivated to hold "correct" and defensible opinions, and they have a better framework for things that are relevant to the self. (45 ref)
Proposes a theory of motivation and emotion in which causal ascriptions play a key role. Evidence is presented indicating that in achievement-related contexts there are a few dominant causal perceptions, and it is suggested that the perceived causes of success and failure share the 3 common properties of locus, stability, and controllability, with intentionality and globality as other possible causal structures. The perceived stability of causes influences changes in expectancy of success; all 3 dimensions of causality affect a variety of common emotional experiences, including anger, gratitude, guilt, hopelessness, pity, pride, and shame. Expectancy and affect, in turn, are presumed to guide motivated behavior. The theory therefore relates the structure of thinking to the dynamics of feeling and action. Analysis of a created motivational episode involving achievement strivings is offered, and numerous empirical observations are examined from this theoretical position. The strength of the empirical evidence and the capability of this theory to address prevalent human emotions are stressed, and examples of research on parole decisions, smoking cessation, and helping behavior are presented to illustrate the generalizability of the theory beyond the achievement-related theoretical focus. (3½ p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
When an experiment involves deception, the investigator is obliged by ethical principles to provide the participants with full clarification upon its completion. The clarification procedure or debriefing may itself have harmful effects unless conducted with great care and sensitivity. Satisfactory debriefing requires considerable preparation and skill. This paper presents a debriefing procedure, including a specific example or debriefing scenario, which has been developed over 20 years of debriefing and which can be adapted to explain any experiment using deception. It is hoped that its presentation will help to improve the general quality of debriefing by providing a guide which will be useful for novice experimenters and by stimulating thought and discussion about how a debriefing should be conducted.
In a 2-phase study with a total of 159 6th graders, the relation of persistence behavior to the causal perception of failure was examined. Ss were administered a battery of tests, including the Intellectual Achievement Responsibility Scale, a modified version of the Perceptual Reasoning Test, and a circle design task. Results of Phase 1 show that temporal persistence and resistance to extinction were positively related to the attribution of failure to insufficient effort and negatively related to attributions to ability and task difficulty by both males and females. In Phase 2, the males who least frequently attributed failure to lack of effort (42 Ss) were randomly allocated to a control group or a social reinforcement group or a token plus social reinforcement attribution retraining group. At immediate and delayed posttests, experimental Ss attributed success and failure on the training task and 2 independent transfer tasks to effort significantly more than did controls. A significant increase from pretest levels on both persistence indexes paralleled the attributional change of experimental Ss. No difference was evident in the effectiveness of the 2 experimental treatments. Despite some attenuation on the transfer tasks, there was evidence of durability of training effects, and generalization of effects to an independent tester at a further 4-mo follow-up posttest. Results provide support for the attribution model of achievement motivation and provide an empirical foundation for the rationale of attribution retraining programs. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Previous research has shown that incidents of job dissatisfaction are more likely to be attributed to external agents (e.g., coworkers, superiors) than are incidents of job satisfaction. Following balance theory, it was hypothesized that self-esteem would interact with whether an incident was one of satisfaction or dissatisfaction in determining the extent to which causality of the incident was attributed to the self or to external agents. 110 working business students were administered a Hebrew translation of the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory and were asked to attribute causality for satisfying and dissatisfying incidents on their jobs. Repeated-measures ANOVAs indicated that the hypothesized interaction between satisfaction–dissatisfaction and self-esteem was significant. Ss high in self-esteem were significantly more internal in their attributions for satisfaction than those low in self-esteem. The 2 groups were not significantly different, however, in their attributions for dissatisfaction. Both groups were more internal in their attributions for satisfying than for dissatisfying incidents. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Studied how self-concept as a dispositional trait influences children's achievement attributions and reinforcing behaviors in the social context of a competing or a noncompeting other. 112 5th-grade boys and girls classified as high or low in self-concept (Piers-Harris Self-Concept Scale) worked in pairs at an achievement-related task in which one succeeded and one failed. Results show that high self-concept children attributed success outcomes more to their high ability and engaged in more positive self-reinforcement following success than did low self-concept children. The affective significance of achievement outcomes was accentuated in competitive settings for high but not low self-concept children. The results are discussed in terms of an attribution model of behavior. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Results of a questionnaire study with 207 college students show that Ss attributed their own performance and the performance of the average student to ability, test difficulty, preparation, and luck. Consistent with the self-serving bias hypothesis, successful Ss perceived internal factors as more important causes and unsuccessful Ss perceived external factors as more important causes of their own performance than the performance of the average student. Furthermore, successful Ss saw internal and stable factors as more important causes of others' outcomes (as well as their own) than did unsuccessful Ss. Ss' anxiety about their performance and their ratings of the course and instructor were systematically, albeit weakly, linked with specific causal attributions. The implications of these causal inferences and affective responses in the educational context are discussed. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This field investigation examined the relationship between prior achievement (high vs average vs low), individual outcome (success vs failure), team outcome (success vs failure) and students' achievement and academic perceptions. 190 students in 7 elementary school classes learned mathematics for 5 wks with the Teams-Games-Tournaments cooperative learning strategy. Team outcome was significantly related to achievement and academic perceptions and was independent of prior achievement and individual outcome. Members of successful teams attributed their team's performance more to ability and luck than did members of unsuccessful teams, believed themselves to be more successful, more deserving of reward, and happier about their team outcome. Alternatives such as criterion-referenced team goals and between-team cooperation are recommended. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Studied self-concept as a dispositional variable influencing children's cognitive-attributional and affective-self reinforcing reactions to achievement outcomes. 64 6th-graders classified as high or low in self-concept on an abbreviated version of the Piers-Harris Self-Concept Scale were given an achievement task on which they succeeded or failed. A preinstructional set was used to allow Ss to interpret their performance as being determined by skill or luck. More high than low self-concept children attributed their success to the skill cue. High self-concept Ss also engaged in more self-reward for success. Both self-concept groups used lack of skill to account for their failure, but the low group responded with more self-punishment. Results are discussed within an attributional model of achievement behavior. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
In Exp I, 183 undergraduates read a persuasive message from a likable or unlikable communicator who presented 6 or 2 arguments on 1 of 2 topics. High involvement (HI) Ss anticipated discussing the message topic at a future experimental session, whereas low-involvement (LI) Ss anticipated discussing a different topic. For HI Ss, opinion change was significantly greater given 6 arguments but was unaffected by communicator likability. For LI Ss, opinion change was significantly greater given a likable communicator but was unaffected by the argument's manipulation. In Exp II with 80 similar Ss, HI Ss showed slightly greater opinion change when exposed to 5 arguments from an unlikable (vs 1 argument from a likable) communicator, whereas LI Ss exhibited significantly greater persuasion in response to 1 argument from a likable (vs 5 arguments from an unlikable) communicator. Findings support the idea that HI leads message recipients to employ a systematic information processing strategy in which message-based cognitions mediate persuasion, whereas LI leads recipients to use a heuristic processing strategy in which simple decision rules mediate persuasion. Support was also obtained for the hypothesis that content- vs source-mediated opinion change would result in greater persistence. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved)
The influence of affect on causal attributions for success and failure was examined in this experiment. A positive, neurtral, or negative mood was induced in subjects who then learned they had either succeeded or failed an aptitude test taken previously. Relative to neutral mood control conditions, subjects in both positive and negative mood conditions showed a pronounced self-serving bias, particularly following success. The finding is interpreted as self-regulation of affective state. Specifically, causal attribution of success to internal factors can sustain or enhance positive affect; attribution of failure to external factors can diminish negative affect. Ancillary analyses corroborated this interpretation.
The present research examined the influence of induced mood on causal perception and goal expectancies for an achievement-oriented activity. Prior to the administration of a laboratory task, positive and negative moods were experimentally induced in student volunteers. It was found that elated subjects were initially more confident of success than subjects temporarily made to feel depressed. Furthermore, following the receipt of bogus success/failure feedback, individuals in a positive mood perceived the causes of success as more stable than subjects in a negative mood. In addition, the judgments of elated subjects appear to have been biased in a self-enhancing direction following success, but outcome had no effect on the causal attributions of subjects temporarily induced to feel depressed. The findings indicate that prevailing affective state is an important determinant of causal perception, and suggest that mood may play a central role in the accurate or biased perception of valenced outcomes.
This article described three heuristics that are employed in making judgements under uncertainty: (i) representativeness, which is usually employed when people are asked to judge the probability that an object or event A belongs to class or process B; (ii) availability of instances or scenarios, which is often employed when people are asked to assess the frequency of a class or the plausibility of a particular development; and (iii) adjustment from an anchor, which is usually employed in numerical prediction when a relevant value is available. These heuristics are highly economical and usually effective, but they lead to systematic and predictable errors. A better understanding of these heuristics and of the biases to which they lead could improve judgements and decisions in situations of uncertainty.
The effectiveness of advertising messages is widely believed to be moderated by audience involvement. In this paper, psychological theories of attention and levels of processing are used to establish a framework that can accommodate the major consumer behavior theories of audience involvement. Four levels of involvement are identified (in order from low to high) as preattention, focal attention, compre- hension, and elaboration. These levels allocate increasing attentional capacity to a message source, as needed for analysis of the message by increasingly ab- stract-and qualitatively distinct-representational systems. Lower levels use rel- atively little capacity and extract information needed to determine whether higher levels will be invoked. The higher levels require greater capacity and result in increasingly durable cognitive and attitudinal effects.
135 undergraduates attributed causality for performance in a dot-estimation task to internal and external causal sources. Ss were found to attribute significantly more causality to internal sources for success outcomes than for failure outcomes, supporting a self-esteem enhancement prediction. Low-self-esteem Ss who received failure feedback attributed significantly more causality to internal causal sources than did high-self-esteem Ss, who received failure feedback, thus supporting a self-esteem consistency prediction for low-self-esteem Ss. The prediction of a positive relationship between degree of choice in engaging in the task and internal attribution of causality was not supported. A significant Self-Esteem * Perceived Performance interaction is discussed, as is an unexpected relationship between internal-external control and self-esteem.
This article describes the development of a Multiple Affect Adjective Check List designed to measure day to day changes in three affects: anxiety, depression, and hostility. Empirical criteria were used to select items and the scales were validated in several types of experimental situations. A stressful film resulted in significant increases in the Anxiety and Depression scales in females, but not in males. A "surprise exam" threat resulted in significant increases in all scales, but the greatest increase was on Hostility. Prior to an expected examination only the Anxiety scale was significantly elevated. All 3 scales responded significantly to an induced failure situation. Group means were stable over base-line days and high split-half reliabilities were found for all scales.
Praise or blame? Affective influences on attributions for achievement
- J P Forgas
- G H Bower
- S J Moylan
- J. P. Forgas
- G. H. Bower
- S. J. Moylan
Self-evaluation: Concepts and studies
- J C Diggory
- J. C. Diggory
Attributions for negative life events and depression: The role of perceived control
- J D Brown
- J M Siegel
- J. D. Brown
- J. M. Siegel