Patterns of achievement attribution of Chinese adults and their sociodemographic characteristics and psychological outcomes: A large-sample longitudinal study

Abstract

The majority of research on achievement attributions cited limitations in sample sizes, convenient sampling, self-rated questionnaires, cross-sectional designs, variable-centered approaches, and lack of attention to cultural diversity. To address these issues, the current study conducted a large-sample longitudinal study on achievement attributions along person-centered approaches in China. Study 1 performed a latent profile analysis (LPA) on 28,768 participants from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), and identified four focal patterns of achievement attribution among Chinese adults (i.e., effort–determinism, effort–betterment, inherited, and multi-determined). Study 2 discovered the sociodemographic characteristics of groups with different patterns of achievement attribution using the method of association rules mining. Study 3 tested the effects of patterns of achievement attribution on several psychological outcomes (i.e., well-being, health, interpersonal life, and social attitudes) based on the 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016 waves of CFPS involving indicators rated by respondents and professionally trained interviewers. The results demonstrated that people with the inherited pattern were more negative in terms of well-being, interpersonal life, and social attitude, whereas those with the effort–determinism and effort–betterment patterns exhibited better psychological adaptation, a promising and optimistic view of life, and more positive mental states.