Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A review of attribution theory in achievement contexts

  • Published:
Educational Psychology Review Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Attribution theory has proved to be a useful conceptual framework for the study of motivation in educational contexts. This article reviews a number of the major principles of attribution theory as they relate to achievement strivings. Among the topics considered are the antecedents to particular selfascriptions, the consequences of causal attributions for emotional reactions to success and failure, help-seeking and help-giving, peer acceptance and rejection, achievement evaluation, and attributional process in African-American populations. The relations between attribution theory and other dominant motivational conceptions, as well as some criticisms of the theory, are also addressed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abramson, L., Metalsky, G., and Alloy, L. (1989). Hopelessness depression: A theory-based subtype of depression.Psychological Review 96: 358–372.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ames, R. (1983). Help-seeking and achievement orientation: Perspectives from attribution theory. In Nadler, A., Fisher, J., and DePaulo, B. (eds.),New Directions in Helping, Vol. 2, Academic Press, New York, pp. 165–186.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ames, R., and Lau, S. (1982). An attributional analysis of student help-seeking in academic settings.Journal of Educational Psychology 74: 414–423.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, C. (1983). Motivational and performance deficits in interpersonal settings: The effects of attributional style.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 45: 1136–1147.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, C., and Jennings, D. (1980). When experiences of failure promote expectations of success: The impact of attributing failure to ineffective strategies.Journal of Personality 45: 393–407.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, C., Jennings, D., and Arnoult, L. (1988). Validity and utility of the attributional style construct at a moderate level of specificity.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 55: 979–990.

    Google Scholar 

  • Andrews, G., and Debus, R. (1978). Persistence and the causal perception of failure: Modifying cognitive attributions.Journal of Educational Psychology 70: 154–166.

    Google Scholar 

  • Atkinson, J. W. (1964).An Introduction to Motivation, Van Nostrand, Princeton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change.Psychological Review 84: 191–215.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (1986).Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social-Cognitive Theory, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

    Google Scholar 

  • Banks, C., McQuater, G., and Hubbard, J. (1977). Task-liking and intrinsic-extrinsic orientations in Black adolescents.Journal of Black Psychology 5: 61–71.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ball, S. (1984). Educational psychology as an academic chameleon: An editorial assessment after 75 years.Journal of Educational Psychology 76: 993–999.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barker, G., and Graham, S. (1987). Developmental study of praise and blame as attributional cues.Journal of Educational Psychology 79: 62–66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borkowski, J., Weyhing, R., and Carr, M. (1988). Effects of attributional retraining on strategy-based reading comprehension in learning disabled children.Journal of Educational Psychology 80: 46–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brophy, J. (1981). Teacher praise: A functional analysis.Review of Educational Research 51: 5–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brophy, J., and Good, T. (1974).Teacher-Student Relationships: Causes and Consequences, Holt, Rinehart & Winston, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brophy, J., and Rohrkemper, M. (1981). The influence of problem ownership on teachers' perceptions of and strategies for coping with problem students.Journal of Educational Psychology 73: 295–311.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, J., and Weiner, B. (1984). Affective consequences of ability versus effort ascriptions: Controversies, resolutions, and quandaries.Journal of Educational Psychology 76: 146–158.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burns, M., and Seligman, M. (1989). Explanatory style across the life span.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 56: 471–477.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butler, R. (1987). Task-involving and ego-involving properties of evaluation: Effects of different feedback conditions on motivational perceptions, interest, and performance.Journal of Educational Psychology 79: 474–482.

    Google Scholar 

  • Covington, M. (1984). The motive for self-worth. In Ames, R., and Ames, C. (eds.),Research on Motivation in Education, Vol. 1, Academic Press, New York, pp. 78–114.

    Google Scholar 

  • Covington, M., and Omelich, C. (1979). Effort: The double-edged sword in school achievement.Journal of Educational Psychology 71: 169–182.

    Google Scholar 

  • Covington, M., and Omelich, C. (1984). Am empirical examination of Weiner's critique of attributional research.Journal of Educational Psychology 76: 1214–1225.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cutrona, C., Russell, D., and Jones, R. (1984). Cross-situational consistency in causal attributions: Does attributional style exist?Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 47: 1043–1058.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diener, C., and Dweck, C. (1978). An analysis of learned helplessness: Continuous changes in performance, strategy, and achievement cognitions following failure.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 36: 451–462.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diener, C., and Dweck, C. (1980). An analysis of learned helplessness II: The processes of success.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 39: 940–952.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dodge, K., Petit, G., McClaskey, C., and Brown, M. (1986). Social competence in children.Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 51 (No. 2) 1–85. Duda, J., and Allison, M. (1989). The attributional theory of achievement motivation: Cross-cultural considerations.International Journal of Intercultural Relations 13: 37–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dweck, C. (1975). The role of expectations and attributions in the alleviation of learned helplessness.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 31: 674–685.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dweck, C., and Leggett, E. (1988). A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality.Psychological Review 95: 256–273.

    Google Scholar 

  • Entwisle, D., and Hayduk, L. (1978).Too Great Expectations: The Academic Outlook of Young Children, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fletcher, G. (1984). Psychology and common sense.American Psychologist 39: 203–213.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forsterling, F. (1985). Attribution retraining: A review.Psychological Bulletin 98: 495–512.

    Google Scholar 

  • Friend, R., and Neale, J. (1972). Children's perceptions of success and failure: An attributional analysis of the effects of race and class.Developmental Psychology 7: 124–128.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham, S. (1984). Communicating sympathy and anger to black and white students: The cognitive (attributional) consequences of affective cues.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 47: 40–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham, S. (1988a). Can attribution theory tell us something about motivation in blacks?Educational Psychologist 23: 3–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham, S. (1988b). Children's developing understanding of the motivational role of affect: An attributional analysis.Cognitive Development 3: 71–88.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham, S. (1989). Motivation in Afro-Americans. In Berry, G. and Asamen, J. (eds.),Black Students: Psychological Issues and Academic Achievement, Sage, Newbury Park, California, pp. 40–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham, S. (1990). On communicating low ability in the classroom: Bad things good teachers sometimes do. In Graham, S., and Folkes, V. (eds.),Attribution Theory: Applications to Achievement, Mental Health, and Interpersonal Conflict, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, New Jersey, pp. 17–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham, S., and Barker, G. (1990). The downside of help: An attributional-developmental analysis of helping behavior as a low ability cue.Journal of Educational Psychology 82: 7–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham, S., and Brown, J. (1988). Attributional mediators of expectancy, evaluation, and affect: A response time analysis.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 55: 873–881.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham, S., and Clayton, S. (1989).In the eye of the beholder: The “stigma” of public assistance (manuscript in preparation).

  • Graham, S., and Golan, S. (in press). From motivation to cognition: The effect of ego-versus task-focused feedback on depth of processing.Journal of Educational Psychology.

  • Graham, S., and Long, A. (1986). Race, class, and the attributional process.Journal of Educational Psychology 78: 4–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham, S., and Weiner, B. (1986). From attribution theory to developmental psychology: A round-trip ticket?Social Cognition 4: 152–179.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, V., Howe, A., Merkel, S., and Lederman, N. (1986). Behavior, motivation, and achievement in Black and White junior high school science classes.Journal of Educational Psychology 97: 108–115.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jagacinski, C., and Nicholls, J. (1984). Conceptions of ability and related affects in task involvement and ego involvement.Journal of Educational Psychology 76: 909–919.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jagacinski, C., and Nicholls, J. (1987). Competence and affect in task involvement and ego involvement: The impact of social comparison information.Journal of Educational Psychology 79: 107–114.

    Google Scholar 

  • Juvonen, J. (1989).An attributional analysis of the relation between perceived deviance and negative peer reactions. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katz, I. (1969). A critique of personality approaches to Negro performance with research suggestions.Journal of Social Issues 25: 13–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelley, H. H., and Michela, J. (1980). Attribution theory and research. In Rosenzweig, M., and Porter, L. (eds.),Annual Review of Psychology, Vol. 31, Annual Reviews, Palo Alto, California, pp. 457–501.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kleinfeld, J. (1972). Effective teachers of Indian and native Eskimo children.School Review 83: 301–344.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kun, A., and Weiner, B. (1973). Necessary versus sufficient causal schemata for success and failure.Journal of Research in Personality 7: 197–207.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lipton, J., and Garza, R. (1977). Responsibility attribution among Mexican-American, Black, and Anglo adolescents and adults.Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 8: 259–273.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maehr, M., and Nicholls, J. (1980). Culture and achievement motivation: A second look. In Warren, N. (ed.),Studies in Cross-Cultural Psychology, Academic Press, New York, pp. 192–216.

    Google Scholar 

  • McClelland, D., Atkinson, J., Clark, J., and Lowell, E. (1953).The Achievement Motive, Appleton-Century, Crofts, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • McMillan, J. (1980). Children's causal attributions in achievement situations.Journal of Social Psychology 112: 31–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, W. Bachmann, M., Biermann, U., Hempelmann, M., Ploger, F., and Spiller, H. (1979). The informational value of evaluative behavior: Influence of praise and blame on perceptions of ability.Journal of Educational Psychology 71: 259–268.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicholls, J. (1978). The development of the concepts of effort and ability, perception of own attainment, and the understanding that difficult tasks demand more ability.Child Development 49: 800–814.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicholls, J. (1984). Achievement motivation: Conceptions of ability, subjective experience, task choice and performance.Psychological Review 91: 328–346.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parsons, J., Kaczala, C., and Meece, J. (1982). Socialization of achievement attitudes and beliefs.Child Development 53: 322–339.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, C. (1990). Explanatory style in the classroom and on the playing field. In Graham, S., and Folkes, V. (eds.),Attribution Theory: Applications to Achievement, Mental Health, and Interpersonal Conflict, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, New Jersey, pp. 53–75.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, C., and Seligman, M. (1984). Causal explanations as a risk factor depression: Theory and evidence.Psychological Review 91: 347–374.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, C., Seligman, M., and Vaillant, G. (1988). Pessimistic explanatory style as a risk factor for physical illness: A thirty-five year longitudinal study.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 55: 23–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Powers, S., and Roseman, M. (1984). Attributions of success and failure among Hispanic, and Native American community college students.Journal of Psychology, 117: 27–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rotter, J. B. (1966). Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement.Psychological Monographs 80: 1–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt, G., and Weiner, B. (1988). An attribution-affect-action theory of motivated behavior: Replications examining help-giving.Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 14: 610–621.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schunk, D. (1989). Self-efficacy and cognitive skill learning. In Ames, C., and Ames, R. (eds.),Research on Motivation in Education Vol. 3, Academic Press, New York, pp. 13–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaw, M., and Schneider, F. (1969). Negro-white differences in attribution of responsibility as a function of age.Psychonomic Science 16: 289–291.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spenner, K., and Featherman, D. (1978). Achievement ambitions.Annual Review of Sociology 5, 53–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strube, M., and Roemmele, L. (1985). Self-enhancement, self-assessment, and self-evaluative task choice.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 49: 981–993.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, S., and Brown, J. (1988). Illusion and well-being: A social psychological perspective on mental health.Psychological Bulletin 103: 193–210.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Overwalle, F., Segebarth, K., and Goldchstein, M. (1989). Improving performance of freshmen through attributional testimonies from fellow students.British Journal of Educational Psychology 59: 75–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weary, G. B. (1978). Self-serving biases in the attribution process: A reexamination of the fact or fiction issue.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 36: 56–71.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiner, B. (1979). A theory of motivation for some classroom experiences.Journal of Educational Psychology 71: 3–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiner, B. (1983). Some methodological pitfalls in attribution research.Journal of Educational Psychology 75: 530–543.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiner, B. (1985a). An attributional theory of achievement motivation and emotion.Psychological Review 92: 548–573.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiner, B. (1985b). “Spontaneous” causal thinking.Psychological Bulletin 97: 74–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiner, B. (1986).An Attributional Theory of Motivation and Emotion, Springer-Verlag, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiner, B., and Graham, S. (1989). Understanding the motivational role of affect: Lifespan research from an attributional perspective.Cognition and Emotion 4: 401–419.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiner, B., Graham, S., Stern, P., and Lawson, M. (1982). Using affective cues to infer causal thoughts.Developmental Psychology 18: 278–286.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiner, B., and Kukla, A. (1970). An attributional analysis of achievement motivation.Journal of personality and Social Psychology 15: 1–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiner, B., and Peter, N. (1973). A cognitive developmental analysis of achievement and moral judgments.Developmental Psychology 9: 209–309.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiner, B., Russell, D., and Lerman, D. (1979). The cognition-emotion process in achievement-related contexts.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 37: 1211–1220.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitehead, G., Smith, S., and Eichorn, J. (1982). The effects of subject's race and other's race on judgments of causality for success and failure.Journal of Personality 50: 194–202.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, T., and Linville, P. (1982). Improving the academic performance of college freshmen: Attribution therapy revisited.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 42: 367–376.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, T., and Linville, P. (1985). Improving the performance of college freshmen with attributional techniques.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 49: 287–293.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wong, P., Derlaga, V., and Colson, W. (1988). The effects of race on expectancies and performance attributions.Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science 20: 29–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wong, P., and Weiner, B. (1981). When people ask “why” questions and the heuristics of attributional search.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 40: 650–663.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zoeller, C., Mahoney, G., and Weiner, B. (1983). Effects of attribution training on the assembly task performance of mentally retarded adults.American Journal of Mental Deficiency 88: 109–112.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Education, University of California, 90024, Los Angeles, California

    Sandra Graham

Authors
  1. Sandra Graham
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Graham, S. A review of attribution theory in achievement contexts. Educ Psychol Rev 3, 5–39 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01323661

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01323661

Key words

Search

Navigation