Attributions of causality in different grades of Australian football league players

Abstract

The present study was designed to investigate the relationship between causal attributions and performance in a group of professional sportsmen. Sixty-seven Australian Football League (AFL) players completed an Attribution Style Questionnaire following rounds 7 and 22 of a 24 match season. At the conclusion of the season, players were allocated to one of three groups (Senior, Fringe or Reserve) depending upon the number of Senior and Reserve grade games played in the 1991 season. Overall, it was found that the Senior group made significantly fewer external attributions in evaluating their own performance than players in the Fringe and Reserve groups, and also made significantly more internal attributions toward the end of the season than they had made early in the season. In addition, it was found that while the Senior and Fringe groups remained stable in their external attributions during the season, the Reserve group made significantly more external attributions toward the end of the season. Results also indicated that self-esteem correlated with both internal and external attribution scores, such that low self-esteem was linked with greater external attribution and decreased internal attribution. These results supported the notion that there is an egocentric bias in the perception of causal explanations of behaviour of elite athletes which could be detrimental to future performance.