Automatic and controlled components of causal attribution for achievement

Abstract

Causal attribution theory of achievement (Weiner, 1985) has been influential in a wide range of areas in psychology. However, despite its prevalence, the underlying mechanism is not yet revealed. In this study, cognitive components of causal attribution for achievement were examined through two experiments, using the dual task procedure to separate automatic from controlling processing. Results consistently support the author's hypothesis that when people fail, the ability attribution is automatically instigated. Implications for the studies of attributional retraining were discussed.