Effectiveness of an “Attribution therapy” manipulation with test anxiety

Abstract

This study examined the effects of level of arousal and history of test anxiety on the therapeutic effectiveness of an “atribution therapy” manipulation. High test anxious (N=125) and low test anxious (N=125) college students were administered a placebo which was described as either a stimulant (with effects similar to those of test anxiety) or a relaxant (with side effects opposite to those of test anxiety). Following this misattribution manipulation, subjects worked on a difficult anagrams task under instructions designed to either maximize or minimize anxiety. Only the anagrams performance of low test anxious subjects, who worked under anxiety-arousing instructions conformed to predictions from attribution theory. In general, results on self-report and behavioral measures cast doubt on the clinical utility of “attribution therapy” manipulations such as those employed in social psychological research.