Attributions of Athletes on Collegiate Sports Teams

Abstract

This study investigated the patterns of attributions for success made by intercollegiate athletes in three categories: more versus less successful teams, men versus women athletes, and individual versus group sport participants. 74 men and 83 women on 17 varsity teams across a number of sports took the Sports Attribution Style Scale, measuring internal, stable, controllable, intentional, and global attributions. It was hypothesized that (a) the athletes on more successful teams would have higher internal, stable, controllable, and intentional attributions, (b) that athletes in individual sports would have lower internal, stable, and controllable attributions, and (c) that women would score higher on all five attributions. Profile analyses of the attributions led to the confirmation of the first hypothesis. For the second hypothesis, the pattern of sport attributions did not differ for individual and team athletes. The third hypothesis was not confirmed. Women athletes scored higher on the attributional dimensions (except globality).