Discussion
Topics Last Day Last Week
Tree View
Documentation
Getting Started
FAQ
Formatting
Troubleshooting
Program Credits
Utilities
New Messages
Keyword Search
Contact
User Profile
Administration
intro.psych (Psyco 105) Discussion: Group 3 Discussion Group: Social Cognition: Sites to Visit: Locus of Control - Attributional Style
By Patricia on Thursday, October 15, 1998 - 06:02 pm:
Take this assessment of attributional style. How is attributional style related to self-concept? Do you think attributional style can be changed? Would changing your attributional style alter your self-concept?
I really question the validity of this questionairre. This questionaire would seem to me to depend on recent occurrences or one's mood.
I think attributional style and its relation to self-concept is culturally determined. In our culture, someone with a positive self-concept would have an attributional style that ascribes internal forces with success or failure - this is because our society is very individualistic. Another culture,however, might value the opposite. I believe attributional style could be changed, however it would be a difficult process - this is because attributional style relates to how much control you believe you have over your life. If you did work at changing your attributional style so that you associated internal forces with success or failure, your self-concept would improve in our society. In other societies, an attributional style that relates external forces to success or failure could lead to an improved self-concept.
Summary - Group Three
You brought up some really good points in your discussion and summary. The case you put forward about the possible invalidity of the test was very plausible. I agree that an internal attributional style is more desirable in our culture but, as you say, this might not be so in other cultures. You also addressed the questions about change well.
Go There
Back to Social Cognition Sites to Visit
By Montresor on Sunday, October 18, 1998 - 10:16 pm:
For example, questions on tests in school, on luck and many others might be answered differently by the same people on different days. So if I spent a lot of time on an assignment and still got a low mark, I might say "almost never" to the low mark on an assignment being due to lack of effort. This might change if I received a high mark.
Most of the questions in this survey have this characteristic I believe, so therefore I believe that yes attributional style can be and is changed almost on a daily, if not hourly, basis.
Even the early research by Rotter was based on laboratory games or tasks and Rotter found he could change the effort of the person changed depending on whether they thought the exercise was based more on skill or luck. He found that the same's person effort changed depending on cues about skill or luck.
It does make sense that attributional style would affect self-concept, but does this survey actually measure a long-term locus of control or short-term mood?
By Jene on Monday, October 19, 1998 - 10:21 am:
By Jene on Monday, October 19, 1998 - 12:22 pm:
Locus of Control - Attributional Style
First, there was some question as to the validity of this questionnaire. Does the questionnaire actually measure long-term locus of control &attributional style, or short-term mood/recent experiences? For example, in answering the question "Does lack of effort always produce a low mark?," one might answer "almost never" if they had recently studied hard and received a low grade. If one had just received a high grade, one might answer "almost always".
Someone with a positive self-concept in our society would have an attributional style that ascribes internal forces with success or failure. One member of our group felt that attributional style changed rapidly, on a daily, even hourly basis, depending on mood and experience. Another group member felt that attributional style would be difficult to change because it relates to how much control you believe you have over your life. Finally, a movement away from an attributional style that associated external factors with success or failure would likely improve self-concept.
One final note: attributional style and culture may be interrelated. Our "individualistic" society may put more emphasis on an internal locus of control, than other societies that place more importance on luck/fate.
By Patricia on Tuesday, October 20, 1998 - 04:00 pm:
Grade = 3