Content area
Full Text
Success and Failure Attributions of Wrestlers: Further Evidence of the Self-Serving Bias1
Peter E. De Michele2 & Bruce Gansneder University of Virginia
Research suggests that individuals maximize self-concept by making attributions for outcomes using a hedonic or self-serving bias (Bradley, 1978; Weary, 1979; Zuckerman, 1979). The present study used MANCOVA and the CDSII to examine attributions made by competitive collegiate wrestlers (n = 27) for their first match of the preseason. Years of wrestling experience was the covariate. There was a significant main effect (p < . 001) for performance on attributions. Consistent with past research, winning competitors made attributions which were significantly more stable (p < .001), internally caused (p < .001), and internally controlled (p < .OS) than losing competitors. Contrary to past research, external control was significant (p < .OS) in the opposite direction for winners. Additional analyses indicated that the perceptions of the win or loss were significantly and positively correlated with: a) stability (p < .OS) and personal control (p < .01) in the winning condition, b) locus of causality (p < .OS) in the losing condition, c) and stability (p < .01) attributions for both conditions combined. Findings reflect a self-serving attributional bias in three of the four dimensions.
Attribution theory proposes that individuals make sense out of their environment by interpreting the causes of outcomes (Weiner,1980). Evidence exists that individuals do search for causes in response to achievement outcomes (Wong & Weiner, 1981), and that those causes are interpreted along at least three dimensions: control, locus of causality, and stability (Weiner, 1985). Control is the dimension which is used to determine who engineered the outcome. The control dimension is used to rate whether an outcome is controllable or uncontrollable by either the individual or others. Locus of causality is the dimension used to assess whether an outcome was caused by some characteristic of the individual or of the environment. Stability is the attributional assessment of the likelihood of future similar outcomes.
Patterns in attribution research indicate a tendency to attribute externally for failures, but internally for successes, possibly to maintain self-esteem in a "self-serving," or "hedonic" bias (Bradley, 1978; Weary, 1979; Zuckerman, 1979). This bias predisposes individuals to attribute successes in a relatively more internal,...