| Abstract: | The perceived causes for employment (success) and unemployment (failure) were considered in a longitudinal study with 378 higher professional graduates, who completed a questionnaire shortly before (imaginary situation) and 6 months after their final exam (real-life situation). The design permitted a comparison for the same subjects of causal attributions for an initially imaginary occurrence that eventually became real. Although the results indicate some inadequacies in the internal structure of the Causal Dimensions Scale (CDS), the subscale structure was found to be invariant across conditions (success/failure) and situations (imaginary/real-life). Furthermore, the CDS showed a considerable divergent validity. The perceived causes for (un)employment were consistent with the literature suggesting a self-serving attributional bias. Contrary to expectation the subjects did not change their causal perceptions when becoming actually (un)employed. Indications were found for a self-serving motivational bias, resulting in labor-market success for those who are initially optimistic and motivated to find a job. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
