The present study was designed to test the causal locus hypothesis, and to develop and explore the selfevaluational hypothesis. The causal locus hypothesis is based on attribution, which is a person's perception of cause. The hypothesis holds that persons making internal attributions (self-caused) for failure end external attributions (not self-caused) for success experience more negative postoutcome mood than persons making external attributions for failure and internal attributions for success. The hypothesis was derived from major theories or attribution, but was not experimentally tested until recently (Wollert et al., 1981).

The purposes of this study were (a) to replicate previous research reporting actor-observer differences in subjects' attributions about behavioral causality, and (b) to manipulate the availability of causal information so that those actor-observer differences would be eliminated.

No description available.

The present study was designed to examine attributional patterns as predictors of task-associated anxiety. The attribution model suggests that confirmation or disconfirmation of expectancy determines attributional patterns. Consistency between expectancy and performance results in stable attributions for performance, while inconsistency results in unstable attributions. Expected failure attributed to stable factors was proposed to result in greater task-associated anxiety than unexpected failure attributed to unstable cause. In the present study, one hundred and thirty-three undergraduates were assigned to one of four groups (in one of two task areas—mathematics and English) following assessment of attributional patterns, performance, and task-associated anxiety. Group 1 Expect Failure Failure Performance Group 2 Expect Failure Success Performance Group 3 Expect Success Success Performance Group 4 Expect Success Failure Performance Expectancy for failure was determined by an expected grade less than the subject-defined success grade. Expectancy for success was determined by an expected grade greater than or equal to the subject-defined success grade. Success/failure performance was determined by the acceptability or unacceptability of the actual grade. No substantial support was found for the attribution model. In conclusion, results were discussed in terms of methodological and measurement limitations. Implications for the failure to find the predicted results were discussed in terms of these limitations and the expanded attributional model. / Ph. D. / incomplete_metadata

The present research examined whether the attributions a supervisor makes in response to subordinate absenteeism are influenced by a subordinate's prior absence history, the nature of the subordinate's excuse, and the outcomes of the absence episode. In addition, this study investigated the effects these absence variables have on supervisors' selection of both appropriate absence labels (excused vs. unexcused), and the type of disciplinary action taken. 160 psychology students and 85 MBA candidates from a large Southeastern university were given a scenario describing a hypothetical absence episode, and completed a questionnaire pertaining to the dependent measures above. Results of multivariate analyses of variance conducted on measures of attributions, absence labels, and disciplinary actions supported the hypotheses that (a) prior absence histories based on a high frequency of absences and subordinate excuses for absences due to visiting friends will result in more internal attributions, unexcused absence labels, and more severe forms of disciplinary action taken by the supervisor; while (b) prior absence histories based on a low frequency of absences and subordinate excuses due to a child's accident will result in external attributions, excused absence labels, and less severe forms of disciplinary action. The consequences of absenteeism did not have an effect on subjects' attributions, and only marginally influenced subjects' absence labels and sanction decisions. Results of regression analyses also supported the hypotheses that the type of attribution a supervisor makes will directly influence the chosen absence label, and the absence label will, in turn, influence the type of disciplinary action taken. Implications of the study's findings for future absence research are discussed. / M.S.

Studies have found disparate perceptions of race relations and discrimination between black and Asian students at institutions of higher education. A linkage is made between perceptions of race relations and attributions of prejudice as a motivation. Attribution theory is developed as a foundation for theoretical understanding of the attribution of prejudice. Both theoretical and empirical literature is reviewed to provide a rationale for expecting blacks to attribute, and therefore perceive, more prejudice than Asians. Several social factors are also identified which could serve as additional reasons to expect blacks to attribute prejudice more frequently than Asians. Results from a questionnaire tapping prejudice attributions are analyzed for significant group differences. Those differences are then analyzed by ordinary least-squares multiple regression. Support is found for the contention that blacks have a greater tendency to make prejudice attributions than do Asians. Support is found for the hypothesis that perceptual differences between blacks and Asians are partially due to differences in the tendency to attribute prejudice. Perceptual differences are also found to be partially due to citizenship status and race. A greater salience of race for blacks and blacks' greater tendency to attribute prejudice are suggested as reasons for observed differences in the perceptions of black and Asian students. The greater salience of race for blacks is discussed as a possible effect of structural inequality, or as a cultural artifact originating in past inequality. / Master of Science

Industry has long been concerned about the supervisor-worker relationship and Green and Mitchell (1979) proposed a model of how supervisors process and respond to information regarding the cause for a subordinate's work failure. The model specifies a two-step process in which the supervisor first attributes a cause to the subordinate's behavior and then uses the causal attribution to aid in the selection of an appropriate disciplinary action. In athletics the coach is the leader and, therefore, the same process that exists for leaders in organizational and industrial settings may also apply to the athletic settings. This research examined whether the implementation of personal policy for a rule infraction would be influenced by the cause for the infraction, the severity of the penalty, and the importance of the offender to the group success. The study was performed within the setting of intercollegiate athletics. One hundred and fifty-nine male and female coaches were divided into two groups based on the personal characteristic of orientation toward winning (high vs. low). Each coach responded to a scenario that described a curfew violation committed by a star or a substitute player. The cause for the infraction was either internal or external and the policy was either mild or severe. Duncan's New Multiple Range Test revealed that: (a) coaches focused significantly (p < .05) more on the player and showed a significantly (p < .05) greater intensity toward the player when the cause for the curfew violation was internal rather than external; (b) orientation toward winning interacted with status of the player in determining whether to reduce penalty; and (c) the severity of personal policy was not significant. The results extend the Green and Mitchell (1979) attributional model of leadership and confirm the importance of personal characteristics in control decisions. / Ed. D.

The present research tested predictions of Green and Mitchell's (1979) Attributional Model of Leadership. Seventy-one male and 77 female undergraduate Introductory Psychology students served as leaders in Study I. They supervised either a male or female subordinate on a clerical task. The subordinate was a confederate of the experimenter and performed poorly due to internal-stable (Ability), internal-unstable (Effort), external-stable (Task difficulty), or external-unstable (Luck) factors. Leaders made attributions for the poor performance and rated the appropriateness of five corrective actions: (a) training; (b) punishment; (c) monitoring; (d) counseling; and (e) providing support. Analyses revealed that leaders were more inclined to train and less inclined to counsel when the cause was stable (ability and task difficulty) rather than unstable (effort and luck). Furthermore, sex of the leader interacted with locus of cause to affect ratings of corrective actions. Male leaders responded more punitively and provided less support when the cause for poor performance was internal rather than external. Female leaders, on the other hand, indicated that it was equally appropriate to punish and support the subordinate in the internal and external cause conditions. Studies II and III examined the effects of involvement in a work task on leaders' attributions and corrective actions. High and low involvement leaders supervised a subordinate who performed poorly due to internal-stable, external-stable, internal-unstable, and external-unstable causes. The leader made attributions for the poor performance and then rated the appropriateness of corrective actions. The results replicated the findings of Study I for the locus and stability variables. In addition, high involvement leaders made more internal attributions for the subordinate's poor performance than did low involvement leaders. The involvement manipulation did not affect leaders' ratings of the corrective actions. The data were interpreted to provide general support for an attributional orientation to leadership. The process by which sex of the subordinate and motivational factors bias leaders' attributions was delineated. Specific revisions were made to Green and Mitchell's Attributional Model of Leadership. / Ph. D.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1985 H34 / Master of Science

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1986 D86 / Master of Science / Physical Education, Dance, and Leisure Studies