Impact of causal attributions on affective reactions to success and failure.

Affective reactions to academic performance appear to be influenced by performance outcome, self-esteem, and causal attributions. We investigated whether expectancies for success and the confirmation or disconfirmation of epectancies also influenced students' affective reactions and causal attributions in achievement settings. Subjects were 132 university students. Causal attributions and affective reactions to an achievement-related situation were assessed and related to students' self-esteem, expectancies for success, and confirmation or disconfirmation of expectancies. Results indicated that causal attributions were related to confirmation or disconfirmation of expectancies for success and to self-esteem. Affective reactions were related to the interaction of self-esteem, expectancies for success, and confirmation or disconfirmation of expectancies. Further analysis suggested that students' affective reactions to performance may serve to maintain existing levels of self-esteem. The role of self-referent and other-referent emotions in self-esteem maintenance was also discussed.

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Causal Attributions and Affective Reactions to Discontinuing Outcomes in Motor Performance

Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology ◽

10.1123/jsep.11.2.187 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 187-200 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Edward McAuley ◽

Terry E. Duncan

Keyword(s):

Causal Attributions ◽

Motor Task ◽

Three Dimensions ◽

Affective Reactions ◽

Negative Affects ◽

Achievement Outcomes ◽

Actual Outcome ◽

Attribution Process ◽

The Relationship

Research suggests that attributional search is a consequence of disconfirming outcomes and that causal dimensions influence affective reactions to achievement outcomes. The present study manipulated future expectancies for performance and actual outcome in a competitive motor task. Following competitive outcome, causal attributions for and affective reactions to the outcome were assessed. Discriminant analysis indicated that winners experienced significantly more positive affect than did losers, who reported more intense negative affects. Regression analyses examined the relationship between causal dimensions and affective reactions. The locus of causality and stability dimensions significantly influenced a number of negative affects in losers, whereas all three dimensions in combination significantly influenced confidence in winners. The findings are discussed in relation to previous attribution-affect research in achievement settings and the role of disconfirm-ing experiences in the attribution process.

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Causal attributions, causal dimensions, and affective reactions to success and failure.

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology ◽

10.1037/0022-3514.50.6.1174 ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 50 (6) ◽

pp. 1174-1185 ◽

Cited By ~ 81

Author(s):

Dan Russell ◽

Edward McAuley

Keyword(s):

Causal Attributions ◽

Affective Reactions

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Cognitive Appraisal and Affective Reactions Following Physical Achievement Outcomes

Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology ◽

10.1123/jsep.12.4.415 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 415-426 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Edward McAuley ◽

Terry E. Duncan

Keyword(s):

Causal Attributions ◽

Cognitive Appraisal ◽

Emotional Reactions ◽

Affective Reactions ◽

Achievement Outcomes ◽

Stability Dimension ◽

The Stability ◽

Physical Achievement ◽

Performance Perceptions

This investigation examined the roles of intuitive (subjective performance perceptions) and reflective (causal attributions) appraisals in the generation of affective reactions to gymnastic performance. Both intuitive and cognitive appraisal were significant predictors of general affect, whereas self-related affects were predominantly influenced by intuitive appraisal and other-related affect by causal dimensions. The stability dimension evidenced the strongest relationship with both general and other-related affective reactions. Commonality analyses determined both types of appraisal to account for up to 14.7% of the cojoint variance in emotional reactions, suggesting that intuitive appraisal may well be perceived as causal attributions under certain circumstances. The findings are discussed in terms of the conditions under which attributions augment the emotion process and the importance of assessing perceptions of performance.

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Affective Consequences of Winning and Losing: An Attributional Analysis

Journal of Sport Psychology ◽

10.1123/jsp.5.3.278 ◽

1983 ◽

Vol 5 (3) ◽

pp. 278-287 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Edward McAuley ◽

Dan Russell ◽

John B. Gross

Keyword(s):

Academic Achievement ◽

Causal Attributions ◽

Important Determinant ◽

Performance Outcomes ◽

Table Tennis ◽

Affective Reactions ◽

Locus Of Causality ◽

Attributional Analysis ◽

Affective Consequences ◽

Causal Dimension

Previous research in academic achievement settings has indicated that causal attributions for success and failure outcomes are important determinants of affective reactions to those outcomes. This study examined the relationships between the dimensions underlying causal attributions (termed causal dimensions) and affective reactions to performance outcomes in table tennis. Attribution processes were found to be important determinants of affective reactions, particularly for winners. In contrast to previous findings, the locus of causality dimension was not found to be an important determinant of affect. Instead, the controllability dimension appeared to be the most influential causal dimension. The implications of these findings for research on attribution-affect relationships are discussed.

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