The Effect of Failure on Self-Concept

Abstract

Abstract This paper explores the effects of failure on an individual's self-concept. A model based on attribution theory, among others, is elaborated to predict how an individual's self-concept will be affected by failure situations. It is argued that where the individual chooses to attribute causality for failure, the situation will determine the effects of that failure on his self-concept unless the individual's belief system modifies the attribution process. This attribution is related to one major individual difference: a person's generalized expectancy for control. It is hypothesized that an individual's predisposition to conceive of causality as deriving from either controllable forces or uncontrollable forces will mediate the attribution process and hence the effect of the failure on his self-esteem. The hypothesized effects of failure on self-concept are tested by analysis of 122 undergraduate students' responses to a series of ten hypothetical failure situations. Responses to the situations were ...