Attribution

What Attribution covers

Attribution is examined in Component 02, Psychological factors affecting performance. It covers Weiner's model: locus of causality and stability, controllability, self-serving bias and attribution retraining and learned helplessness and mastery orientation.

The 3 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Weiner's model: locus of causality and stabilityAttribution, the locus of causality and stability dimensions, ability, effort, task difficulty and luck, classifying a golfer's, a sprinter's and a hockey team's attributions, and pride, expectations and motivation.Open →
• Controllability, self-serving bias and attribution retrainingControllability and effort, the self-serving bias and how it holds performers back, attribution retraining for a swimmer, attributing failure to unstable causes and success to stable ones, and blaming luck.Open →
• Learned helplessness and mastery orientationGeneral and specific learned helplessness, attributions that cause it, effects on performance and participation, late developers, mastery orientation, praising effort, and the tennis player who cannot beat one rival.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Attribution further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Internal attribution vs External attribution

  Internal attribution: a cause of the result located within the performer, such as ability or effort. External attribution: a cause of the result located outside the performer, such as luck.

• Stable attribution vs Unstable attribution

  Stable attribution: a cause that stays fixed from one event to the next. Unstable attribution: a cause that can change from one event to the next.

• Controllable attribution vs Uncontrollable attribution

  Controllable attribution: a reason the performer can influence, such as effort. Uncontrollable attribution: a reason beyond the performer's influence, such as luck.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What is attribution in sports psychology?

   Model answer

   Attribution is the reason a performer gives for the outcome of an event. Performers attribute both success and failure to causes.

2. 2

   Which two dimensions form the basis of Weiner's model of attribution?

   Model answer

   Weiner's model is built on the locus of causality and the stability dimension. The two dimensions combine to give four types of attribution.

3. 3

   What is the locus of causality?

   Model answer

   The locus of causality asks whether the cause of an outcome lies inside or outside the performer. Causes are classed as internal or external.

4. 4

   What is an internal attribution?

   Model answer

   An internal attribution places the cause of an outcome within the performer. Ability and effort are internal causes.

5. 5

   What is an external attribution?

   Model answer

   An external attribution places the cause of an outcome outside the performer. Task difficulty and luck are external causes.

6. 6

   What does the stability dimension describe?

   Model answer

   The stability dimension describes whether a cause is fixed or changeable over time. Causes are classed as stable or unstable.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Attribution revision questions

What does Attribution cover in OCR A-Level Physical Education?

3 subtopics: weiner's model: locus of causality and stability, controllability, self-serving bias and attribution retraining and learned helplessness and mastery orientation. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Attribution organised?

By the OCR H555 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.