Attributional consistency and subjective perceptions of success

This study investigated the attributions of successful and unsuccessful male and female distance runners given after each race during a competitive season. It was hypothesized that the 8 male and 8 female runners would be inconsistent in their support of the self-serving bias. Using the Causal Dimension Scale-II, responses showed that, as a group, the runners were consistent when coding their attributions into dimensions. When divided as to perceived success, successful runners gave more internal and stable reasons for their performance, while both groups reported high personal control and low external control.