8/2/2019 OCR PE Attribution Theory

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Attribution TheoryGeorge Noorland

Attribution Theory

Attribution- The perceived reasons for success or failure following an event.- Attribution theory tells us how individuals explain their behaviour (in a sporting

context, performers use attributions to provide reasons for winning/losing).- Looks at how the reasons given might affect future achievement motivation.

The reasons/causes/attributions an individual/team gives for their success or failure canaffect:

- Immediate emotional reactions.- Actual behaviour.- Future aspirations.- Expectations, motivation and future participation.

Possible reasons for Success: Possible reasons for Failure:- Strong desire to succeed- Confidence- High motivation (intrinsic)

- Better level of skill than competition

- Expected to win and will therefore nottry as hard (lack of motivation)

- Task difficulty

- Lack of preparation (training)- Lack of effort- Other peoples ability (whether on your

own team or on opponents)

Weiners Model of Attribution:Suggested that 4 key attributions lie on 2 dimensions.

1. The locus of causality- describes where the performer places the reason forwinning or losing:

Internal- within the performers control.

External- under the control of the environment.

2. The stability dimension- describes how fixed the attributions are:

Stable- remains the same for a relatively long period of time, e.g. a season.

Unstable- changes may occur from week to week, or within minutes.

Mastery Orientation:- Mastery Orientation- A strong motive to succeed that is found in high achievers.

Individuals will expect to succeed in a task but, if not, will show persistence.- Mastery-orientated performers generally attribute success to internal reasons (raises

self-efficacy, it allows them to repeat success in the future).- There confidence is high, and so they will be motivated to continue participating.- They show the characteristics of a N.Ach performer and will persist if they do not

succeed.- Failure is attributed to external factors (task difficulty/luck); they then feel failure can be

overcome if they try harder- energised by setbacks.- These erformers lace bi em hasis on achievement and winnin .

Learned Helplessness:- Learned Helplessness- Feelings experienced by a performer when they feel failure is

inevitable because of negative past experiences.- Attribute failure internally to stable reasons (ability).- They believe that, regardless of effort, they are destined to fail and therefore do not

persist.- General Learned Helplessness- variety/all sports (e.g. negative experiences learning to

swim and so not participating in any water activities).- Specific Learned Helplessness- Relating to one skill/single sport (e.g. not trying a

particular area of sport due to negative past experiences).- Learned helplessness usually occurs in those who have low self-confidence due to past

failings; they withdrew and stopped participating.- Have similar characteristics to NAF performers.

- If attributions remained unchanged, it is likely to lead to a sedentary lifestyle becauseof low sporting self-esteem.

Reducing Learned Helplessness in Performers:a. Attributional Retraining:

- Attributional Retraining- Methods of helping the performer to change the way that theyexplain the cause of success or failure, they are encouraged to focus on factors that canbe controlled.

- Manipulating dysfunctional attributional thought to help produce functional adaptiveways of attributing.

- Aim: reformation of learned helplessness.- Changing negative attributions to positive ones.

b. Self-Serving Bias:

- Self-serving bias- The process by which individuals are taught to attribute failure tochangeable, unstable factors (luck), rather than internal stable factors (ability).- Taking credit for success and denying responsibility for failure.- Belief that they typically perform better than the average person in areas important to

their self-esteem.c. Promoting Self-Efficacy:

- Self-efficacy- The belief that one is capable of performing in a certain manner to attaincertain goals.

- Optimistic beliefs.- Individuals belief in their ability and performance on a task or in a situation.Having high Self-efficacy: Having low Self-efficacy:

- Arises from experiencing a

successful performance (e.g.achieving good results, beingpraised/admired, knowing thatyou are doing well).

- Results from things like: poor

results, criticism from others.- = quickly losing confidence in own

ability.- This has detrimental effects on

motivation and willingness to persistwith challenging tasks (as they areseen as personally threatening andlikely to result in a loss of self-

8/2/2019 OCR PE Attribution Theory

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Attribution TheoryGeorge Noorland

Strategies to Develop Mastery Orientation and avoid Learned Helplessness:- Individual attention.- Emphasise performance rather than outcome goals.- Monitor performers attributions.- Coaches/teachers are positive.- Use mental rehearsal.- Avoid social comparisons with others.- Ensure early success.- Coaches must be honest and able to change goals in

relation to PERSONAL achievement.

- Raise self-efficacy- Highlight previous quality

performances.- Give positive reinforcement.

Effect of Attribution Theory on Healthy Lifestyle:

- Low achievers find achievement satisfying = less motivated to continue activity- this hasa HUGE implication when trying to encourage a healthy (active) lifestyle.

- Do not want to create negative experiences during exercise or opinions that are unableto improve/gain success because they will not return to the activity in future.

- Relates back to performance rather than outcome goals (e.g. I havent lost weight,but I feel less fatigued and could go on for longer (mastery, performance goal- good), Ihavent lost any weight (outcome goal- not good).