Causal Attributions of the High and Low Resilient Adolescents

Abstract

Causal attributions play a predominant role in diverse behaviors. The present study attempts to find whether resilient distinguished himself / herself on causal attributions for events in terms of the underlying dimensions identified by Weiner (1979). A convenient sample consisting of 120 students studying in higher secondary class was used in this study. The age of the subjects in the sample ranged from 15 to 16 years. Both males and females were included in the sample. The Revised Causal Dimension Scale (CDS-II) (McAuley, Duncan,&Russell, 1992) and Resilience Scale for Adolescence (READ) (Hjemdal et al., 2006) were used to obtain measure of causal attributions and resilience of the Subjects. Criterion groups were formed representing high group and low group on resilience using the median score of the distribution of scores of the sample on READ. The groups were compared with each other on dimensions of causal attributions namely Locus of Causality (LOC), Stability(S), External Control (EC) and Personal Control (PC) using ANOVA. Findings show that locus of causality and personal control significantly differentiated low and high group on resilience. Highly resilient were higher on locus of causality and on personal control. The perceived the cause of events to be originating from within them and perceived higher degree of volitional influence that can be exerted over a cause by them was found to be characteristic of resilient.