Abstract
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.
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We thank Christopher Peterson for his invaluable comments on an earlier version of this manuscript. In addition, we appreciate the efforts of Jerri Woods, who served as an experimenter for the study.
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Baumgardner, A.H., Arkin, R.M. Affective state mediates causal attributions for success and failure. Motiv Emot 12, 99–111 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00992167
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00992167