Attribution Theory

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15807792.stm

By the end of the lesson you will be able to answer the following questions:

Task !

Think of a game you played in recently.Did you win or lose?Why do you think you won or lost? Why did your coach think you won or

lost?

Definition of Attribution

Attributions are seen as being what an individual or team interprets or perceives

as being the cause of theirs or others particular behaviour/ outcome of events.

Definition of Attribution

The reasons/causes given for their success or failure can affect..

1) Immediate emotional reactions

2) Actual behaviour

It can have serious effects on a performers aspirations, expectations, motivation and future participation.

Weiner’s Model of Attribution

Weiner (1985)

Although there are thousands of reasons we can give as to why we won or lost. Weiner suggests that these can be grouped into certain categories across two dimensions.

Weiner’s Model of Attribution

The four categories of causal attributions given for peoples success or failure were;

AbilityLuckEffortTask Difficulty

Weiner’s Model of Attribution

These can be classified by stability and locus of causality.

Locus of causality

Internal Attributions

External Attributions

Stable Attributes

Ability Task Difficulty

Unstable Attributes

Effort Luck

Weiner’s Model of Attribution

StabilityStable:- Permanent in relation to time e.g.. Ability

and taskUnstable:- Changeable in relation to time e.g..

Effort and luckLocus of causalityInternal:- Within performers e.g.. Ability and

effortExternal:- Environmental factors e.g. task

difficulty and luck

Weiner’s Model of Attribution

Locus of causality dimension

Internal External

We were too good for the opposition

on the day! Our skills were

better

They were not a very good team

from a lower league

We had prepared well for the game and all of the team worked extremely

hard

We were lucky on the day.

The umpire gave us a questionable penalty flick!

Stable

Stability

Unstable

Activity

Using your cards hold up the correct attribution for the reasons for winning or losing.....

Reasons for winning or losing

I played a better player The umpire wasn't that great The crowd put me off Psychological- I have never beaten the

opponent Due to my level of fitness The playing surface- prefers clay Pressure from family to win The importance of the match

I’m not very good at badminton Our swimming team is the best in the region Our team is not really good enough to win the

cup The referee was biased I couldn't be bothered to try Everybody tried their best The rain caused the match to be abandoned

and saved us

Application of Attribution Theory

This theory is important in sport as it affects future effort.

If we think reasons for success are stable and we are accountable for them we will have confidence in the future.

If we believe that reasons for failure are changeable, we can change the future result and influence the performance- ‘If I try harder…I may win next time’

Task!

With a partner toss a coin 10 times. Each time predict if it is going to land on heads or tails

Record your scoreWho is the winner?

Self Serving Bias

This is a tendency for performers to attribute success to themselves (internal reasons) and failure to external and changeable reasons.

EG. It was the referees fault we lost

Traditionally thought that winners attribute success to internal factors and losers, failure to external factors.

This protects self esteem/ pride.

Effective use of Attributions

We want our performer to Attribute winning to internal factorsAttribute losing to external factorsUse of attributions in this way is called

Self Serving BiasWhy?........Maintains motivation, task persistence,

Develops self esteem, avoids learned helplessness

Attribution Retraining

Coach changes the performers perception of failure, allow them to deal with it effectively and improve future performances

Failure or poor performance

Change from:

Change to:

Attributions: Lack of Ability

Behaviour: persistence

Emotion: negative e.g. frustration

Emotion: negative or neutral e.g.

disappointment

Attributions: incorrect strategy

Behaviour helplessness,

avoidance

Learned Helplessness

Performer attributes failure to internal, stable factors such as ability.

Consequently they feel that when faced with particular situations they are unlikely to be successful and failure is the only viable outcome

Learned Helplessness

“An acquired state or condition related to the performers perception that he or she

does not have any control over the situational demands being placed on him

or her and that failure is therefore inevitable”

Why?

Inappropriate feedbackCriticismLack of success

General/Global learned helplessness:

Failure is inevitable in all sports.

I.e. all water based sports Specific learned helplessness:

Specific to a sport i.e. canoeing

How to avoid learned helplessness

Experience early success Realistic but challenging goals One to one attention Avoid social comparisons Mental rehearsal Performance goals rather than outcome goals Attribution retraining Use correct attributions ?

Quick questions….

Explain the term self serving biasWhat is attribution re training?Explain the term learned helplessnessDifference between global and specific

learned helplessness?Two strategies to reduce learned

helplessness

Exam questions 2006

Exam answers - 2006