Are causal attributions causal? A path analysis of the cognitive model of achievement motivation.

Abstract

ments. In this new schema nAch is assigned a subordinate status as one of many antecedents to achievement, with cognitive attributions becoming the major causal determinants of achievement behavior.Following Heider (19S8), Weiner proposes ability, effort, luck, and task difficulty as among the major perceived causes of achievement performance (Weiner, 1972(Weiner, , 1979. There is general consensus that high and low nAch individuals harbor differential explanations about the causes of their successes and failures (Weiner et al., 1971;Weiner, Heckhausen, Meyer, & Cook, 1972;Weiner & Kukla, 1970;Weiner & Potepan, 1970), and it is precisely these differences that are taken as the essence of individual differences in achievement motivation. 'Generally speaking, persons motivated to approach success (high nAch) attribute failure to lack of effort and success to their ability, whereas failure-avoiding (low nAch) persons tend to ascribe failure to lack of ability and success to external factors such as luck. The

Enhancing Self-Efficacy and Achievement Through Rewards and Goals: Motivational and Informational Effects

“…Covington and Omelich (1979) found that adults' personal expectations of successful performance were one of the best predictors of later performance. Personal expectations for success are viewed as important influences on behavior by a variety of theoretical approaches (Bandura, 1982;Covington & Beery, 1976;Kukla, 1972;Moulton, 1974;Schunk, in press;Weiner, 1979). This study suggests implications for teaching practice.…”

A causal attribution model of academic achievement in senior high-school

“…For example, Covington and Omelich (1979), which is one of a few pieces of research done in educational settings, used four factors and Aikawa, Misliinia, and Matsumoto (1985) adopted eight factors based on the three dimensional model.…”

Attributional Theory Organisational Culture and Motivation

“…In a later empirical examination of Weiner's critique, Covington and Omelich (1984) replicated their earlier test of Weiner's cognitive model using both their original expectancy variable (Covington & Omelich, 1979) and an additional expectancy change variable. They also used their original motivational variable, which was a measure of performance, as well as task persistence suggested by Weiner to be an appropriate motivational variable for testing his attributional theory.…”

“…Various studies, however, failed to fully confirm or contradicted Weiner's attributional theory of achievement motivation (Covington & Omelich, 1979;Graham, 1984;Dalal & Sethi, 1988;Winefield, Tiggemann, & Winefield, 1992). After a thorough examination of the results of these studies, this thesis argues that the predictive power of causal stability as a moderator of the effect of failure on subsequent motivation will be improved by taking into account the initial level of the person's motivation to engage in the task.…”

“…Covington and Omelich (1979) demonstrated that in a failure situation none of the four major attributions (ability, task difficulty, luck, and effort) was shown to have a direct effect on subsequent performance, while effort was the only attribution that indirectly influenced performance through the intervening variable of future expectancy. However, the direction of the relationship between effort and expectancy was opposite to that predicted by Weiner's model.…”