TO WHAT FACTORS DO UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ATTRIBUTE THEIR ACADEMIC SUCCESS (original) (raw)
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Academic achievement and attributions among college students: Effects of gender and sex typing
Sex Roles a Journal of Research, 1988
Attribution questionnaires were completed by 137 students in an introductory economics course immediately preceding the first exam in their class and immediately after their exams were returned. Results indicate that males and females used attributions differently, although not as a function of perceived outcome. In contrast, sex-typing groups varied their attribution as a function of perceived outcome. Self-esteem is proposed as a possible mediating variable. It was concluded that sex typing in relation to perceived successful and unsuccessful performance is an important variable in attributional research. Attributions play a powerful role in the academic world. Whether students attribute their performance to ability, effort, task difficulty, or luck affects students' self-esteem, expectancies of success, the outcome of the task, and gender-related variables. One of the most important factors is expectancies, which have been shown to be fairly good and consistent predictors of attributions (Deaux & Emswiller, 1974; Shrauger, 1975; Simon & Feather, 1973). Expected outcomes are more likely to be attributed to internal causes (e.g., ability and effort) than are unexpected outcomes.
Perceived University Students’ Attributions of Their Academic Success and Failure
Asian Social Science, 2012
This study examined the applicability of the attribution theory in understanding how students attribute their academic success and failure. Participants involved a sample of 260 undergraduate students at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. They completed an attitude questionnaire scale with items on locus of control, stability and controllability dimensions. The results show that the majority of students attributed their academic performance to internal, stable and controllable factors. High performing students were more likely to attribute their academic performance to internal and controllable factors than low performing students. Success was attributed to internal and controllable factors, while academic failure was attributed to external and uncontrollable factors. Save for sex, the participants' demographic variables did not statistically significantly influence the attribution pattern. The results of this study confirm the predictions of the attribution theory and are in line with the findings of similar studies conducted in other university settings.
Research in Higher Education, 1996
This study sought to determine the extent to which students' development of internal locus of attribution for academic success during the first year of college was influenced by institutional characteristics, students' academic experiences, and their social/nonacademic experiences. The sample was 2,392 first-year students attending 23 diverse two- and four-year institutions Iocated in 16 states throughout the country. Controlling for precollege internal attribution, academic ability, and other potentially confounding influences, a number of variables had significant, net, positive associations with end-of-first-year internal attribution. These included attending a two-year (versus a four-year) college, level of exposure to postsecondary education, work responsibilities, the extent of course organization, instructional clarity, and instructor support in the teaching received, and participation in intercollegiate athletics. Additional analyses indicated that many of the associations with internal attribution were conditional rather than general, differing in magnitude for different kinds of students.
Causal Attribution of Students to their Academic Achievement
International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), 2016
This study examined causal attributions by college-age students regarding their academic achievement. A descriptive survey design was employed to measure the existing attribution level of the students. Simple random sampling method was used to select sample departments from each college, and representative samples were selected from each department based on academic rank. The total participants involved in this study were 104 second year students at Mizan-Tepi University in Ethiopia. They completed a multiattributional causality scale with items related to ability, effort, context and luck dimensions. Means, independent sample t-tests, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used for analysis. The results showed that the majority of students attributed their academic achievement to internal factors. Academic success was attributed to internal factors while academic failure was attributed to external factors. Moreover, high-and medium-achievers tended to attribute their academic achievement to effort and ability while students with low achievement were more likely to assign the causes of academic success and failure to luck. Sex differences revealed that males tended to attribute their academic achievement to ability, whereas for females there was no significant difference in their attribution to effort, context or luck.
Gender Differences In College Students' Attributions For Success In Two Subject Areas
1984
During the 1970's, causal attribution took its place as a viable explanation for the underrepresentation of women in college level mathematics courses. Based upon the prior reporting of gender differences in attribution patterns, researchers have hypothesized that attributions have a significant mediating effect on the academic choices made by students. This study centered on the problem of attribution as a causal variable in a model of academic choice as proposed by Meece et al. (1982). In order to be considered a causal variable in such a model however, the assertion was made that attributions for women in areas where they do participate, such as English, must be different from attributions in areas where they do not participate, such as Mathematics, and different from those of men. The current study was undertaken to test hypotheses concerning apparent gender differences in attribution patterns for success in two subject areas.An instrument was constructed to measure ten stu...
Attributional styles and academic achievement in university students: A longitudinal investigation
2002
Although a number of previous studies have examined the relation between attributional styles and academic achievement, they have yielded contradictory results. This study sought to further examine the relation between attributional styles assessed during the freshman year and academic achievement over the entire college career. Results suggest that, among students who tend to make internal or stable attributions for negative life events, those with low levels of academic ability (i.e., low SAT scores) receive lower cumulative GPAs while in college than do those with high levels of academic ability (i.e., high SAT scores). In contrast, the GPAs of students who tend to make external or unstable attributions for negative life events appeared to be relatively unaffected by their level of academic ability.
Attributions to Academic Achievements in the Transition to Higher Education
Current Psychology, 2016
The perceived causes of success in academic learning play a decisive role in students' goals, behaviours and emotional reactions towards similar situations in the future. The purpose of this study was to identify the perceived causes of academic achievement in the transition to higher education and to relate them to the academic outcomes. The participants, 204 college students, were asked to rate the importance of a list of attributions to their academic outcomes. Those ratings were related to a measure of academic success. The results have revealed that the most important perceived causes of success are internal and controllable. Discriminant analysis permitted the estimation of a significant discriminant function that distinguishes between successful and non-successful students. A one-way ANOVA has revealed significantly higher means of internal and controllable attributions in more successful students. These results suggest the importance of interventions to help students assume control over their success and engage intentionally in more effective learning processes.
Predictors of academic achievement in higher education
2018
In this study we investigated the relationship between academic achievement and the students' characteristics such as personality traits, learning motivation or intellectual ability. Our intention was to highlight possible predictors of academic achievement on the level of higher education. A sample group of 284 pre-service teachers voluntarily participated in the study. The results showed a significant correlation between academic achievement and some personality variables such as conscientiousness, emotional stability, self esteem and self-control. Moreover, intellectual ability and intrinsic motivation positively correlated with academic achievement, as shown in previous studies. Regression analysis further revealed that the most important predictors of academic achievement were intrinsic motivation, intelligence, self-control and self-esteem. Overall, it seems that identifying the predictors of academic achievement and wisely integrating them in the classroom setting could significantly improve the quality of instruction in higher education.