Causal attributions, causal dimensions, and affective reactions to success and failure.

Abstract

Previous research has indicated that two different aspects of causal attribution processes, causal attributions and causal dimensions, are determinants of affective reactions to success and failure. Three different models of the relation between these two components of attribution processes and affective reactions are proposed. These models were empirically tested in two studies. Study I used an experimental methodology requiring subjects to imagine themselves in different achievement situations, whereas Study 2 involved affective reactions to performance on a midterm examination. Results from these studies indicated that causal attributions and causal dimensions had joint and independent effects on affective reactions to success and failure. The implications of these findings for a theoretical model of the relation between attribution processes and affect are discussed. Imagine yourself in the following situation: You have just received in the mail the reviews of a paper you recently submitted. Quickly you open the envelope and read the editor's comments, only to discover that your paper has been rejected. As you continue reading the reviews of you work, you find that the criticisms by the reviewers were either relatively minor or already addressed in your paper.