Children's Achievement and Causal Attributions in Mathematics and Reading

The purpose of this study was to investigate (a) the consistency of tenth graders' causal attributions about success and failure in mathematics and reading and (b) the predictive relationships between these causal attributions and the children's academic achievement and sex. Attributional...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of experimental education 1990-04, Vol.58 (3), p.197-212
Main Authors: Newman, Richard S., Stevenson, Harold W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic achievement
Attribution theory
Children
Educational sciences
Grade 10
Grade 2
Mathematics
Mathematics achievement
Mathematics tests
Motivation and Social Processes
Outcomes of education
School work. Docimology. Guidance
Secondary school mathematics
Success and failure
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Summary:The purpose of this study was to investigate (a) the consistency of tenth graders' causal attributions about success and failure in mathematics and reading and (b) the predictive relationships between these causal attributions and the children's academic achievement and sex. Attributional ratings were factor analyzed, and resulting indices were regressed on sex and achievement scores from grades 2, 5, and 10. Findings indicate that (a) certain attributions (e.g., mood, test difficulty, and mastery of specific skills) are generalized across subject area and outcome, whereas others (e.g., ability and interest) are specific to subject area and outcome; (b) the higher children's concurrent achievement in math and reading, the greater the likelihood of attributing success to stable causes and failure to unstable causes; and (c) the lower children's concurrent achievement in reading, the greater the likelihood of attributing reading success (or failure) to help (or lack thereof) from the teacher.
ISSN:0022-0973
1940-0683
DOI:10.1080/00220973.1990.10806535