Reconsidering the attribution-adjustment relation following a major negative event: Coping with the loss of a child.

Field studies have not yet conclusively established how attributions affect adjustment to unanticipated traumatic events. This may be due, in part, to the adoption of several untested assumptions in most prior research. It has usually been assumed that attributional issues are important to people who experience a traumatic event, that such concern is adaptive, and that specific attributions (e.g., self-blame) influence subsequent adjustment. These assumptions were tested with longitudinal data collected over 18 mo from 124 parents whose children died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. By 3 wks postloss, 45% of parents were not concerned with attributional issues. These parents were less distressed and less likely to blame themselves or others for the death. Longitudinal analyses did not support the assumption that attributions influence subsequent adjustment. Rather, attributions to oneself or others appear to be symptomatic of distress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mediation among attributional inferences and comprehension processes: Initial findings and a general method.

Attribution theories have not specified whether attributions are made by perceivers as part of the process of comprehending an event or only later in response to specific attributional questions. Theories also disagree about the types of attributional inferences (judgments of causation, of the actor's traits, or of intentionality) that are most likely to be made initially and to mediate further inferences. Whereas previous research has been unable to address these issues, a design using 2 RT measures provided relevant evidence. Results of 2 studies involving 100 undergraduates show that judgments of intention and of the actor's traits may have been made in the process of comprehension; affective judgments and inferences about the repetition of an event and the event's personal or situational causation were probably made later. Implications for a model of schema-based attributional inference are discussed. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A clinically grounded evaluation of attributional theories of depression and psychotherapy.

Discusses the attributional theory of depression and, using clinical data as evidence, argues that identifying the content of an attribution is not sufficient to understand depression. It is suggested that attributional theories were developed outside the clinical context (i.e., working directly with depressed individuals) and therefore do not address the issue of personal meaning. A major goal of psychotherapy is the derivation of personal meaning (C. Rogers, 1947; W. Snyder, 1949) and must be associated with attributions for a fuller understanding of depression. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression and attributions: Factors responsible for inconsistent results in the published literature.

According to the attributional reformulation of learned helplessness, depressive symptoms are associated with an attributional style that points to internal and global causes for bad events involving the self. 61 tests of the attributional reformulation published in 6 journals (e.g., Cognitive Therapy and Research) since 1978 were analyzed to determine factors that might distinguish findings that corroborated the reformulation's predictions from those that did not. Use of a large sample and hypothetical events was correlated with support for the reformulation with respect to stable and global attributions. However, these characteristics were highly intercorrelated across studies, making it impossible to isolate their independent effects. None of the factors (e.g., nature of the sample, method of assessing depression) examined consistently distinguished supporting from nonsupporting studies with respect to internal attributions. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Situations, attributions, and the evaluation of reactions.

The present studies deal with the integration of theoretical models and empirical work on the antecedents of causal attributions with conceptions about attributional consequences. A central, although thus far neglected, postulate of attribution is addressed: the assumption that realistic attributions lead (or, more specifically, are perceived as leading) to functional behaviors and emotions. First, definitions of veridicality and functionality are discussed within an attributional framework. Second, three simulation studies that investigate whether realistic attributions are perceived as leading to functional reactions were conducted. Results indicated that stimulus persons who are described as exhibiting behaviors that are guided by unrealistic attributions are judged to be less likely to attain long-range success in both achievement and social situations and are thought of as being less contented and less likeable than persons who show reactions that are tied to realistic attributions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attributional style as a risk marker of genetic effects for adolescent depressive symptoms.

Genetic effects on adolescent depression have been consistently reported, but little is known about mediating pathways from the distal genotype to resultant behavioral symptoms. Identifying intermediate risk markers may provide clues on these pathways. In the present study, longitudinal twin and sibling data were used to address 3 issues pertaining to attributional style as a putative marker of genetic risk for adolescent depression: state independence by assessing predictive effects between attributional style and depressive symptoms, heritability of attributional style at different time points, and genetic links between attributional style and depressive symptoms characterizing concurrent and longitudinal associations. The authors further examined whether these predictive and genetic links varied across levels of stress, age, and gender. Negative attributions preceded, co-occurred with, and followed symptoms. The predictive association between earlier negative attributions and later depressive symptoms did not differ by stress, age, or gender. Attributional style was moderately heritable at both time points. Genetic links with concurrent and prospective depressive symptoms were larger in individuals reporting higher levels of stress, who were older and female. Implications for attributional style as a marker reflecting genetic risks are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attributional retraining: A review.

Reviews 15 attributional training studies conducted between 1975 and 1985, describes their general format, and analyzes how they conceptually differ from misattribution approaches. The methods are related to the self-efficacy theory of A. Bandura (1981; also see PA, Vols 58:5733 and 68:5814), the work of M. E. Seligman on learned helplessness (1975; also see record 1976-20159-001), and the attributional analysis of achievement motivation by B. Weiner et al (1971). In the relevant studies, reattributions of failure to lack of effort predominate. A summary of how the Ss were selected for the studies, how the problem areas were defined, and what techniques were used to initiate attributional change is included. As intended, the programs produced changes on the cognitive and behavioral level (i.e., they typically increased the Ss' attributions for failure to lack of effort, and they improved performance and persistence). It is concluded that reattribution training could become an important aspect of cognitive therapies and suggested that its range of convenience can be assessed by applying a variety of attributional changes to a variety of psychological problems. The retraining studies can be used as tests of their competing underlying theoretical concepts. (59 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Therapists' attributions for client premature termination: Are they self-serving?

We conducted two studies of therapist responses to client premature termination from psychotherapy. In Study 1, we surveyed therapists' attributions for client premature termination from therapy using an open response format. Results suggested that therapists showed a self-serving pattern in their attributions (i.e., attributed causality to the client or environment) when considering their own clients compared to when they considered the premature terminations of clients in general. Study 2 was a vignette study in which therapists responded to one of two client presentations that varied relationship to client (your client vs. other's client). Using the attributional categories derived from Study 1, therapists rated the likelihood that each attribution caused the client's premature termination. Again, patterns across groups indicated that therapists are self-serving in their attributions for client premature termination. In addition, differences were found across gender and theoretical orientation; larger effects were found for men compared to women, and psychoanalytic therapists compared to cognitive–behavioral. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trust and communicated attributions in close relationships.

The attributional statements intimate partners communicate to one another were examined as a function of trust. In discussions by 35 married couples, 850 attributions and corresponding events were coded on dimensions of valence, globality, and locus. Results of regression and contingency analyses indicate that attributional statements expressed in high-trust relationships emphasized positive aspects of the relationship. Medium-trust couples actively engaged issues but focused mom on negative events and explanations. Low-trust couples expressed more specific, less affectively extreme attributional statements that minimized the potential for increased conflict. Results could not be accounted for by relationship satisfaction. These findings also highlight the importance of focusing on features of the events for which attributions are expressed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-serving attributional biases: Perceptual or response distortions?

Examines D. T. Miller's (see record 1980-09658-001) analysis of what constitutes a self-serving attributional bias. It is argued that his delineation of different types of self-serving attributions is not supported by the empirical evidence collected to date and that what previous authors (e.g., D. T. Miller and M. Ross, 1975) have viewed as a perceptual bias in the causal inference process may be better seen as a response bias or as a strategic self-presentation designed to maximize public esteem. (4 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Positive life events, attributional style, and hopefulness: Testing a model of recovery from depression.

A model of a recovery process from depression that is compatible with the hopelessness theory of depressive onset is proposed. This model predicts that depressives who have an enhancing attributional style for positive events (i.e., make global, stable attributions for such events) will be more likely to regain hopefulness and, thereby, recover from depression, when positive events occur. This prediction was tested by following a group of depressed college students longitudinally for 6 weeks. Although neither positive events alone nor attributional style alone predicted reduction in hopelessness, depressives who both showed the enhancing attributional style for positive events and experienced more positive events showed dramatic reductions in hopelessness which were accompanied by remission of depressive symptoms. Thus, attributional style for positive events may be a factor that enables some depressives to recover when positive events occur in their lives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attributions in the sports pages.

Extended the generality of attribution research by exploring several important issues in a highly involving real-world setting in which attributions naturally occur: athletic competition. 107 newspaper accounts of baseball and football games were coded for attributional content. These data support a motivational or self-enhancement explanation for the tendency to make internal attributions for success and external attributions for failure. No support was found for D. T. Miller and M. Ross's (1975) contention that this tendency is mediated by expectancies. It was also found that more attributions were made after unexpected, as opposed to expected, outcomes. There was a tendency for relatively more stable attributions to be given after expected outcomes. The advantages and disadvantages of studying attributions in archival data and the possibility of attributions justifying rather than explaining behavior are discussed. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attributions for real and hypothetical events: Their relation to self-esteem and depression.

Examined the association between attributional style, self-esteem, depressive symptoms, and general distress to test hypotheses derived from a learned helplessness model and B. Weiner's (see record 1979-28688-001) attributional model of motivation. 178 male and female undergraduates completed the Beck Depression Inventory, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and an attributional style questionnaire and were asked to make causal attributional ratings about 12 hypothetical events. 151 Ss also were asked to make diary ratings on 14 real events. Attributional ratings were internally consistent across events, but attributions about positive outcomes were either uncorrelated or positively correlated with attributions about negative outcomes, failing to support learned helplessness predictions that a single process underlies attributions about positive and negative events. As predicted, internal attributions for positive outcomes were primarily associated with high self-esteem. Only internal stable attributions for negative outcomes were related to depressive symptoms, consistent with Weiner's model. The pattern of correlation between attributions and general distress was essentially identical to that obtained with depressive symptoms. Attributions for real events were similar in their effects to ratings of hypothetical events. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attributional interpretations in counseling: Content versus discrepancy.

The content of attributional interpretations and their discrepancy from client attributions were manipulated to examine the respective importance of these 2 variables to the effectiveness of interpretation. 38 undergraduates with mild to moderate depression (as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory) and who exhibited either behavior or characterological styles on the Attributional Styles Questionnaire were given brief counseling that contained either behavioral or characterological interpretations. The matching of attributional styles with interpretation content constituted the discrepancy variable. Three male counselors administered all treatments. Results indicate that interpretation content was irrelevant to change in Ss' negative emotions, attributional styles, and problem-related attributions. Change on the stability dimension of Ss' attributional styles was partly a function of interpretation discrepancy. Ss' negative emotions improved in all conditions. Their attributional styles became less internal and less global in all conditions, but their problem-related attributions became more internal. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attributional influences in counselor decision making.

We investigated the relation between counselors' causal explanations for clients' presenting problems and subsequent treatment assignments. After an intake interview counselors rated presenting problems on four attributional dimensions and on several other variables thought to influence counselor judgment (e.g., severity and duration of problem and treatment urgency). The results demonstrate that ratings of duration of problem and attributions of stability of cause best predicted treatment decisions. Specifically, a linear relationship emerged; as stability of cause and duration of problem increased, assignments to long-term treatment were more likely. We conclude that attributional processes may play a role in counselor decision making not previously acknowledged and discuss implications for practice and further research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attributional complexity: An individual differences measure.

Describes the development of a scale that measures the complexity of attributional schemata for human behavior—the Attributional Complexity Scale (ACS). In Study 1, the ACS was administered to 289 undergraduates. The results show that the ACS had adequate internal reliability and test–retest reliability, and a factor analysis yielded 1 major factor. Study 2 tested the discriminant and convergent validity of the ACS by administering it to 81 undergraduates. As predicted, attributional complexity was not related to social desirability, academic ability, or internal–external locus of control, but it was positively related to the need for cognition. Study 3 confirmed the prediction that psychology majors (n?=?59) would have more complex attributional schemata than natural science majors (n?=?35). Studies 4 and 5, with 174 Ss, provided evidence for the external validity of the scale: Attributionally complex Ss compared with attributionally simple Ss spontaneously produced more causes for personality dispositions and selected more complex causal attributions for simple behavioral events. Implications for various issues in social cognition are discussed. (48 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attributions for positive life events predict recovery from depression among psychiatric inpatients: An investigation of the Needles and Abramson model of recovery from depression.

The authors investigated whether attributions for positive life events predict decreases in hopelessness and depressive symptoms among clinically depressed adults. Measures of attributional style, attributions for recent events, depressive symptoms, dysfunctional attitudes, hopelessness, and life events were administered to 52 depressed psychiatric inpatients treated with antidepressant medication; the measures were readministered 12 and 24 days later. Results indicated that (a) internal, stable, global attributions for recent positive events mediated a significant association between attributional style for positive life events and decreased hopelessness; (b) decreases in hopelessness mediated a significant association between internal, stable, global attributions for recent positive events and decreases in depressive symptom levels; and (c) depressotypic cognitions were not associated with decreases in either hopelessness or depressive symptom levels. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)