Children's achievement attributions and self-reinforcement: Effects of self-concept and competitive reward structure.

Carole Ames

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Education, Achievement, and Giftedness Psychological Testing and Assessment Motivation and Self-Concept in Sports

Abstract

This experiment studied how self-concept as a dispositional trait influences children's achievement attributions and reinforcing behaviors in the social context of a competing or a noncompeting other. There were 112 fifth-grade boys and girls classified as high or low in self-concept who worked in pairs at an achievement-related task in which one succeeded and one failed. Results showed that high self-concept children attributed success outcomes more to their high ability and engaged in more positive self-reinforcement following success than did low self-concept children. The affective significance of achievement outcomes was accentuated in competitive settings for high but not low self-concept children. The results were discussed within an attribution model of behavior. Children's feelings about themselves and beliefs about their abilities may be expected to influence both their behavior and interpretations of achievement-r elated experiences (Feather, 1971; Nicholls, 1976; Weiner, 1972). In a classroom setting, these interpretations involve explanations about the causes of achievement outcomes that may have important implications for one's subsequent achievement-oriented behaviors (Weiner et al., 1971), self-evaluations (Ames, Ames, & Felker, 1977), and interpersonal relationships (Feather & Simon, 1971). Previous research has shown that certain causal explanations, more than others, are likely to be inferred for achievement outcomes as a function of certain dispositional and informational variables (Ames, Ames, & Felker, 1976; Frieze & Weiner, 1971; Weiner et al., 1971). The purpose of the present study was to determine how self-concept and sex as dispositional traits and performance

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References

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