Attributional Analysis of Achievement Motivation: Some Applications to Education.

Weiner, et al, (1971) presented a model of achievement-related behavior which outlined how causal ascriptions might mediate between stimulus conditions and achievement-oriented responses. This model assumed that individuals allocate the causes of success and failure to four elements (ability, effort, luck and task difficulty), and that each of these causal attributions would produce different behavioral and emotional reactions. Other studies (Bar-Tal and Frieze, 1973; Kukla, 1972; Weiner and Kukla, 1970; and Weiner and Potepan, 1970) have demonstrated that high and low achievement motivation subgroups display differential causal attributional patterns which may explain their varying responses to achievement situations. These findings indicate the need for better understanding and modification of attributional patterns of individuals low in achievement motivation. Possible ways of initiating such changes are reviewed in the context of the educational process. (Author)