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UNDERSTANDING MOTIVATION 69performance can be detrimental to your academic success. The more
accurate your perceptions of competence or efficacy, the more likely
you will be to use the information to make appropriate changes in
your learning and study strategies.What Are the Causes of My Successes and Failures? When an event occurs,
individuals can interpret it in different ways. Consider two college stu-
dents of equal ability in the same class who just received a C on a
term paper. The first student is very upset because he does not think
the instructor’s grading was fair. He decides that there is not much he
can do to obtain a high grade in the course. The second student
determines that the grade reflected the amount of time he spent com-
pleting the task and decides that he needs to work harder in the
future.
Why did the two students of equal ability interpret their experi-
ences differently? One explanation is that the two students made dif-
ferent attributions about their performances on the term papers. An
attribution is an individual’s perception of the causes of his or her
success or failure. Attribution theory helps explain why individuals
respond differently to the same outcomes.
The most common attributions for academic performance are abil-
ity (“I did well because I am smart” or “I did poorly because I am
not capable”) and effort (“I studied hard for the test” or “I did not
study hard enough”). However, students often make other attribu-
tions, such as “I was lucky or unlucky,” “The task was easy or hard,”
“I was tired,” “I did not feel well,”or “The instructor was unfair.”
Weiner (1986), a leading motivational researcher, believes that how
students perceive the causes of their prior successes and failures is the
most important factor determining how they will approach a partic-
ular task and how long they will persist at it. For example, students
who attribute their past successful performances to their ability are
more likely to welcome similar challenges in the future because they
anticipate doing well again. However, students are less likely to be
optimistic about future tasks if they attribute their prior successes to
luck or the generosity of the instructor.
Students who believe their failures are because of their own lack of
effort are likely to try harder in future situations and persist on dif-
ficult tasks. Also, students who believe that success is a result of their
own doing (i.e., controllable) are more likely to do the things that are
necessary to attain success. These students are more likely to seek
assistance from their instructor if they do not understand the mate-
rial and will attend extra-help sessions when necessary. In contrast,
students who believe their successes and failures are uncontrollable
(e.g., because of luck or the generosity of the teacher) are less likely
to seek the help they need.