An Attributional Theory of Achievement Motivation

PsychologicalReview1985,Vol.92,No.4,548-573Copyright1985bytheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,Inc.0033-295X/85/S00.75AnAttributionalTheoryofAchievementMotivationandEmotionBernardWeinerUniversityofCalifornia,LosAngelesAtheoryofmotivationandemotionisproposedinwhichcausalascriptionsplayakeyrole.Itisfirstdocumentedthatinachievement-relatedcontextsthereareafewdominantcausalperceptions.Theperceivedcausesofsuccessandfailuresharethreecommonproperties:locus,stability,andcontrollability,withintentionalityandglobalityasotherpossiblecausalstructures.Theperceivedstabilityofcausesinfluenceschangesinexpectancyofsuccess;allthreedimensionsofcausalityaffectavarietyofcommonemotionalexperiences,includinganger,gratitude,guilt,hope-lessness,pity,pride,andshame.Expectancyandaffect,inturn,arepresumedtoguidemotivatedbehavior.Thetheorythereforerelatesthestructureofthinkingtothedynamicsoffeelingandaction.Analysisofacreatedmotivationalepisodein-volvingachievementstrivingsisoffered,andnumerousempiricalobservationsareexaminedfromthistheoreticalposition.Thestrengthoftheempiricalevidence,thecapabilityofthistheorytoaddressprevalenthumanemotions,andthepotentialgeneralityoftheconceptionarestressed.In1645,MiyomotaMusashiwascontem-platingthecausesofhispastsuccessasawar-rior.InABookofFiveRingshemused,WhenIreachedthirtyIlookedbackonmypast.Thepre-viousvictorieswerenotduetomyhavingmasteredstrategy.Perhapsitwasnaturalability,ortheorderofheaven,orthatotherschools'strategywasinferior.(1645/1974,p.35)About275yearslater,andapproximately11,000milesaway,theeditorsofScientificAmericanwerewonderingwhyAmericawasflourishing.Theyreasoned,Thewealthandgeneralprosperityofthecountryarelargelyduetotheintelligenceandenergyofitspeople,butitcanhardlybedisputedthatitisequallyduetothenaturalwealthofthecountry(Staff,1926,p.228).Unfortunately,battlesarelostasoftenastheyarewon,andcountriesundergoeconomicdeclineaswellasenrichment.Dur-ingourrecentfinancialrecessiontheLosAn-gelesTimesreported,Timberindustryexpertsblamehighinterestrates,thehousingslump,toughloggingregulation,andexpansionThisarticlewaswrittenwhiletheauthorwassupportedbyGrantMH38014fromthePublicHealthService,NationalInstituteofMentalHealth.TheauthorwishestothankSandraGrahamforherhelpfulcommentsonanearlierdraftofthisarticle.RequestsforreprintsshouldbesenttoBernardWeiner,DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofCalifornia,LosAngeles,California90024.oftheRedwoodNationalParkfortheirsorrystate.TimSkaggs,theunionbusinessagent,shrugged.'Youcouldspendalifetimefixingblame,'hesaid.(Martinez,1982,Pt.5,p.1)Andeventheformercoachofmyfavoritefootballteamfounditnecessarytosoulsearchaboutcausalityfollowingaseriesoflosses.AgainfromtheLosAngelesTimes:HereitisThanksgivingweek,andtheLosAngelesRamsarelookinglikethebiggestturkeys,intown.CoachRayMalavasihaseliminatedbadluck,biorhythms,andsun-spotsasthereasonswhyhisfootballteamhaslost9ofitslast10games.Nowhe'sconsideringtheunthinkablepos-sibilitiesthat:(a)hehaslousyplayersor(b)theyaren'treallytrying.(Robert,1982,Pt.3,p.3)Whythisconstantpursuitofwhy?Anumberofexplanationscometomind(seeForsyth,1980;Weiner,1985).Wemightjustwanttoknow,thatis,tounderstandtheen-vironment,topenetrateourselvesandoursur-roundings.Thisfamiliarmotivationalinter-pretationisknownastheprincipleofmastery(White,1959).Inaddition,itclearlyisfunc-tionaltoknowwhyaneventhasoccurred.AsKelley(1971)stated,Theattributorisnotsimplyanattributor,aseekerafterknowledge;hislatentgoalinattainingknowledgeisthatofeffectivemanagementofhimselfandhisen-vironment(p.22).Onceacause,orcauses,areassigned,effectivemanagementmaybepossibleandaprescriptionorguideforfutureactioncanbesuggested.Iftheprioroutcome548ACHIEVEMENTMOTIVATIONANDEMOTION549wasasuccess,thenthereislikelytobeanat-tempttoreinstatethepriorcausalnetwork.Ontheotherhand,iftheprioroutcomeoreventwasundesired—suchasexamfailure,socialrejection,politicalloss,oreconomicde-cline—thenthereisastrongpossibilitythattherewillbeanattempttoalterthecausestoproduceadifferent(morepositive)effect.Desireformasteryandfunctionalsearch,twoofthegeneratorsofcausalexploration,donotseemtospecificallycharacterizeonegeo-graphicalareaoroneperiodofhumanhistory.TheJapanesewarriorintheMiddleAgesandtoday'sunionrepresentativeareengagedinthesameendeavor:attemptingtoassigncausality.Indeed,onemightarguethatadaptationisnotpossiblewithoutcausalanalysis.Thewarriorneedstoknowwhyheiswinningbattlessohecansurvivethenextone,justastheunionrep-resentativeneedstoexplainwhytheindustryisdoingpoorlyinordertourgewiseractionsinthefuture.Becauseoftheapparentpan-cultural,timelessaspectofcausalsearchandexploration,andbecauseoftheevidentadap-tivesignificanceofthisactivity,causalascrip-tionsareproposedtoprovidethebuildingblocksfortheconstructionofatheoryofmo-tivationandemotion.Thisarticleadvancesanattributionaltheoryofmotivationandemotion,withachievementstrivingsasthetheoreticalfocus.Initially,themostsalientcausesofsuccessandfailureinachievement-relatedcontextsareidentified.Thebasicpropertiesofthesecauses,orthestructureofcausalthinking,isthendeter-