Positive Attributional Style Research Articles

A survey study of success attribution factors in reading comprehension performance-evidence from Chinese college students of Japanese language majors

Attribution beliefs are important psychological factors that affect students’ reading performance. This paper reports a survey study on Japanese Major students’ success attribution factors in reading comprehension performance through a questionnaire and follow-up interviews. The participants are 160 third-year Japanese language learners from four universities in Jiangsu Province, China. Findings revealed that 1) the Japanese third-year language learners show a tendency of positive attribution style on the whole, with the mean value of Internal Factors (Mean=3.68) higher than that of External Factors (Mean=3.23), which means that most of Japanese Major learners attribute their success to Internal Factors in terms of Japanese reading comprehension performance. 2)There are differences existing between high achievers and low achievers with regard to success attribution factors in Japanese reading comprehension performance, with high achievers’ mean scores higher than low achievers in both Internal Factors and External Factors. The research findings have greatly enhanced our understanding of Japanese language learners’ success attribution beliefs in reading comprehension performance, which will provide educational guidance and recommendation for both teachers and students during the process of teaching and learning Japanese language.

The relationship between perceived teacher support and student engagement among higher vocational students: A moderated mediation model.

Student engagement is a best predictor variable of student' development and success. It can be highly influenced by internal and external environmental factors, such as perceived teacher support. In order to explore the influence of perceived teacher support on student engagement among higher vocational students, this study conducted a questionnaire on 1,136 Chinese higher vocational students using perceived teacher support, basic psychological needs satisfaction, learning drive, student engagement and Optimistic attributional styles for explaining positive events (OAS_P) five scales. The results show that: (1) Perceived teacher support can't indirectly predict the student engagement among higher vocational students through basic psychological needs satisfaction; (2) Perceived teacher support can indirectly predict student engagement through learning drive; (3) Perceived teacher support can indirectly predict student engagement through basic psychological needs satisfaction and learning drive; (4) OAS_P has a significant moderation effect on both learning drive and student engagement. The finding of this study stated that perceived teacher support has a significant influence on student engagement. So in the teaching process, teachers should pay attention to their learning psychology, provide them with various support and encouragement and beneficial guidance, stimulate their learning drive, help them form a positive and optimistic attribution style, and make them actively participate in learning and school life.

The Impact of COVID-19-Related Lockdown on Adolescent Mental Health in China: A Prospective Study

Background: The potentially devastating impact of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to wide-spread concern about how individuals’ mental health will be affected. Evidence suggests that mental health in the general population has worsened due to enforced isolation during this pandemic, but it remains unknown how lockdown measures have specifically affected the wellbeing of children and adolescents.Methods: This longitudinal study investigated the psychological impact and mental health status of 1349 adolescents before, during and after the Chinese lockdown from 21 January 2020 to 13 April 2020 and identified risk and protective factors.Outcomes: Counter to our expectations, during the lockdown, school closures had a beneficial effect by reducing depression and anxiety symptoms, whereas the lockdown itself, online learning, and tracking of health information worsened these outcomes as expected. Compared with before the pandemic, unexpectedly, an overall decrease in depressive and anxiety symptoms, state anhedonia, and bullying victimization were found before, during and after lockdown. Protective factors included positive attributional style, whereas COVID-19-related stressors, anhedonia, negative attributional style, bullying, bullying victimization and schizotypal personality traits were potential risk factors.Interpretation: The decrease in emotional and behavioural problems relative to previous trends indicated that school closures may have improved the mental health of adolescents in China overall. The results investigated risk and protective factors related to COVID-19 that may better protect children and adolescents. Funding: Social Science Foundation of Hunan ProvinceDeclaration of Interests: There are no conflicts of interest specifically related to this work.Ethics Approval Statement: The study was approved by the Wenzhou Medical University ethics committee (2020-131).

Did my heart just leap or sink? The role of personality for the relation between cardiac interoception and well-being

Interoceptive accuracy (IAc), the ability to perceive signals from within the body, has been linked to many beneficial health outcomes but also to psychopathologies such as anxiety disorders. Therefore, its relation to a person's subjective well-being (SWB) is unclear. Here, we predicted that individuals who are prone to interpreting interoceptive signals positively benefit from IAc and exhibit higher SWB. In contrast, individuals with predispositions towards negative interpretations suffer from it, resulting in lower SWB. Participants completed a measure of cardiac IAc, measures of extraversion, neuroticism, optimism and pessimism as personality traits that have been related to positive and negative attributional styles, and various measures of well-being. Psychiatric and physical well-being were predicted by the interaction between optimism/pessimism and IAc. While for optimistic participants, IAc did not predict higher well-being, for pessimistic individuals, it predicted lower well-being. These findings shed light on the role of interoception for SWB and its adaptiveness for individuals with different personalities.

The Effects of Attributional Style on Job Satisfaction, Job Performance, and Turnover Intention: The Case of Hotel Employees

Employees’ assessment of success and failure situations and arguments affects their behavior and work outcomes at work. Individuals use two attribution styles, positive and negative, in these evaluations. The purpose of the study is to examine the effects of attribution styles on job satisfaction, job performance, and turnover intention among five-star hotel business employees in Belek/Antalya, Turkey. Data is collected using a questionnaire, and 249 applicable questionnaires are gathered at the end of the study. According to the results of SEM analysis, a positive attributional style positively affects job satisfaction and job performance, but a significant effect on turnover intention could not be determined. On the other hand, a negative attributional style has no effect on job satisfaction, job performance, and turnover intention.

Risk of Depression in the Offspring of Parents with Depression: The Role of Emotion Regulation, Cognitive Style, Parenting and Life Events

Children of depressed parents are at heightened risk for developing depression, yet relatively little is known about the specific mechanisms responsible. Since preventive interventions for this risk group show small effects which diminish overtime, it is crucial to uncover the key risk factors for depression. This study compared various potential mechanisms in children of depressed (high-risk; n = 74) versus non-depressed (low-risk; n = 37) parents and explored mediators of parental depression and risk in offspring. A German sample of N = 111 boys and girls aged 8 to 17 years were compared regarding children’s (i) symptoms of depression and general psychopathology, (ii) emotion regulation strategies, (iii) attributional style, (iv) perceived parenting style and (v) life events. Children in the high-risk group showed significantly more symptoms of depression and general psychopathology, less adaptive emotion regulation strategies, fewer positive life events and fewer positive parenting strategies in comparison with the low-risk group. Group differences in positive and negative attributional style were small and not statistically significant in a MANOVA test. Maladaptive emotion regulation strategies and negative life events were identified as partial mediators of the association between parental depression and children’s risk of depression. The study highlights the elevated risk of depression in children of depressed parents and provides empirical support for existing models of the mechanisms underlying transmission. Interestingly, the high-risk group was characterised by a lack of protective rather than increased vulnerability factors. These results are crucial for developing more effective preventive interventions for this high-risk population.

Personality Dimensions and Attributional Styles in Individuals with and without Gender Dysphoria

This research investigates personality dimensions and attributional styles among individuals with and without gender dysphoria in relationship to gender, educational level, and ethnicity. Participants were 60 men and women with and without gender dysphoria. A demographic sheet and two inventories were used. Results showed that patients with gender dysphoria had significantly higher neuroticism and lower agreeableness compared with individuals without gender dysphoria. No significance differences in extraversion, openness to experience, and conscientiousness (based on the “big five” personality model) were found between those with and without gender dysphoria. Also, individuals without gender dysphoria had higher positive attributional styles compared to patients with gender dysphoria. Finally, there were significant effects for gender and ethnicity on personality dimensions, but not for gender, ethnicity, or the ethnicity by gender interaction on the attributional styles.

Attributional patterns towards students with and without learning disabilities: a comparison of pre- and in-service teachers in China

This study aims to investigate the differences of attributional responses to students with and without learning disabilities (LD) between pre- and in-service teachers in mainland China. A total of 204 teachers (101 pre-service and 103 in-service teachers) were surveyed using vignettes and Likert scale questions to ascertain their responses to students with and without LD. Drawing from Weiner’s attributional theory, teachers’ feedback, frustration, sympathy and expectation were measured. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was executed to compare pre-service and in-service teacher responses regarding students with and without LD. The findings showed that pre-service teachers experienced significantly lower frustration than in-service teachers to students with and without LD. Moreover, the teachers gave more positive feedback but felt less sympathy to students with LD who exerted high effort. These findings implied that pre-service tended to foster a more positive attribution style. Implications and recommendations for research and practice are also presented.

Investigating the Relationship Between Attribution Styles and Metacognitive Skills With Fear of Success Among Students

Background: Fear of success is a stressful factor that is derived from achievement. A few children and adults have a fear of success and as a result restrict their contributions despite their skills. Objectives: The present paper aimed at investigating the relationship between attribution styles and metacognitive skills and fear of success. Methods: This was a descriptive cross sectional study conducted on a statistical population of all students of 3 universities of National, Azad, and Payam-e Noor of Bojnourd, Iran, in the first 6 months of 2015. In the present study, 385 students were selected through clustering random sampling, and 3 questionnaires of Zukerman and Ellison’s Fear of Success, Peterson and Seligman’s Attribution Styles, and Wells’ MetaCognition were distributed among the students. The obtained data were analyzed using SPSS software version 20. Results: Results of the regression revealed that in the best model of prediction, cognitive confidence, positive attributions, uncontrollability, and risk are able to predict the fear of success variable (P ≤ 0.05.01). With respect to Pearson’s correlation coefficient, a significant negative relationship was obtained between positive attribution style and fear of success (P ≤ 0.0005), and only negative stable attributions had a significant relationship with fear of success (P ≤ 0.01). In addition, a significant relationship was detected between cognitive confidence, uncontrollability, and risk (P ≤ 0.0005), positive beliefs about concern, and fear of success. Conclusions: The results of the present research, conforming to that of the other studies, revealed that attribution styles and metacognitive skills are able to predict the fear of success variable.

Role of Optimism on Employee Performance and Job Satisfaction

The aim of this study was to examine the role of optimism in employee performance and job satisfaction. Optimism is a positive psychological construct popularized by Martin Seligman. An optimist person has positive expectations and follows a positive attribution style. An individual possessing the psychological resource of optimism tends to face life with a positive view. But on the other hand, those persons who are pessimistic in nature view life events negatively. This study was conducted on a sample of 346 employees from three large public sector banks situated in the Eastern part of India. Correlation, regression, and structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques were used to test the hypotheses. Results depicted that optimism is positively related to employee performance and job satisfaction. This study also supported the external validity of optimism construct with relation to performance and job satisfaction in the Indian cultural context.

Adolescents’ Experiences of Victimization: The Role of Attribution Style and Generalized Trust

Positive attribution style, negative attribution style, and generalized peer trust beliefs were examined as mediators in the relationship between adolescents’ peer victimization experiences and psychosocial and school adjustment. A total of 280 (150 female and 130 males, Mage = 13 years 4 months, SDage = 1 year 1 month) adolescents completed measures of peer victimization, global self-worth, depressive symptoms, social confidence, school liking, loneliness, attribution styles, and generalized trust beliefs. Multigroup path analysis revealed that: (a) negative attribution style mediated the relationship between cyber victimization and school liking and depressive symptoms for males and females; (b) positive attribution style mediated the relationship between cyber victimization, school liking, global self-worth, and depressive symptoms for females; and (c) generalized peer trust beliefs mediated the relationship between social victimization, depressive symptoms, social confidence, and loneliness for females. Consequently, attribution style and generalized trust beliefs differentially influence the relationship between peer victimization and adjustment.

Moodle my style E-learning improves attributional style for cancer-diagnosed children

Metacognitive skills and a positive attributional style are extremely important for young cancer patients. The present research shows how attributional styles and metacognitive training via information and communication technologies (ICTs) can enhance a positive self-attributional style in young cancer patients. A quasi-experimental prospective study measured participant attribution style before and after metacognitive and attributional online training programs that last about six months. Results demonstrated a significant positive impact of training on metacognitive skills and attributional style. The program presented expands knowledge on the prevention of negative cognitive long-term side effects associated with the treatment of children with cancer.

Moodle my style: e-learning improves attributional style for cancer-diagnosed children

Metacognitive skills and a positive attributional style are extremely important for young cancer patients. The present research shows how attributional styles and metacognitive training via information and communication technologies (ICTs) can enhance a positive self-attributional style in young cancer patients. A quasi-experimental prospective study measured participant attribution style before and after metacognitive and attributional online training programs that last about six months. Results demonstrated a significant positive impact of training on metacognitive skills and attributional style. The program presented expands knowledge on the prevention of negative cognitive long-term side effects associated with the treatment of children with cancer.

Parents' and Children's Cognitive Style: The Role of Parents' Practices.

Depression among children is a prevalent, distressing phenomenon. Children's hope and negative attributional style are significant precursors for children's depressive symptoms. Thus, the aim of the current study is to examine parents' characteristics that contribute to children's attributional style and hope in a sample of 85 Israeli young elementary school age children (mean [SD] age, 6.70 [0.49] years) and their parents. Results demonstrated positive associations between both mothers' and fathers' positive attributional style and children's hope and positive attributional style; however, parents' hope was not associated with children's hope or with children's positive attributional style. Mothers' overprotectiveness and psychological control were negatively associated with children's hope and positive attributional style, whereas fathers' overprotectiveness was positively associated with these variables. Moreover, few parent and child sex effects were found with fathers' criticism associating negatively with boys' attributional style and hope and positively with girls' attributional style. Finally, our study demonstrated a possible advantage of the fit between mothers' and fathers' practices to children's positive attributional style and hope. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.

Depressive symptoms in Chinese elementary school children: child social-cognitive factors and parenting factors

This study examined child cognitive-behavioural factors and parenting factors related to childhood depressive symptoms. Results indicate that positive and negative attributional styles were protective and vulnerable factors of depression symptoms, respectively, and the attribution–depression link was mediated by self-esteem and coping responses. Children who inclined to explain positive outcomes with internal, stable and global factors reported higher self-esteem which predicted adopting seeking social support but not internalization and externalization coping responses. These children reported less depressive symptoms. In contrast, children who explained negative events with internal, stable and global causes developed lower self-esteem and adopted internalization and externalization coping responses which predicted depression in the positive direction. Authoritative parenting style and parental anxiety predicted child depressive symptoms in the negative and positive directions, respectively. The current results solicit the attention of school personnel and professionals to the importance of fostering self-esteem and adaptive attributional style and coping responses in children.

A glance at children's family drawings: Associations with children's and parents’ hope and attributional style

The current study examined differences in children's and parents’ hope and negative attributional style as a function of children's attachment categorizations derived from children's family drawings in 77 triads of young elementary school age children ( mean age 6.70, range 6–7.5; SD=53), mothers, and fathers in Israel. In addition, associations between scales in children's family drawings and children's and parents’ hope and negative attributional style were examined. Drawings were coded using Main and Kaplan's (1986) coding system. Both children's and parents’ hopes and attributional style were reflected in the children's drawings. Specifically, the scales reflecting attachment security, such as vitality and pride, were positively correlated with children's hopes and negatively correlated with children's and parents’ negative attributional style. By contrast, the scales reflecting attachment insecurity, such as emotional distance, anger, and pathology, were negatively correlated with participants’ positive attributional style and hope and positively correlated with negative attributional style. Surprisingly, role reversal was positively correlated with mothers’ hope and negatively with fathers’ negative attributional style. Finally, differences in children's hope and negative attributional style, in addition to mothers’ negative attributional style, were found as a function of children's attachment categorizations. The implications for theory and clinical interventions are discussed.

Effects of attribution retraining on the perceived career barriers of undergraduate nursing students

Background/purposeTo evaluate the effects of attribution retraining on the perceived career barriers of undergraduate nursing students and to foster positive attributional styles. MethodsNinety-four undergraduate nursing students were recruited and randomly divided into two groups: the attribution retraining group and the control group. All students were assessed by the perceived career barriers inventory before and after the eight-week study. ResultsAttribution retraining significantly influenced the students' perceived career barriers. The mean scores of vocational knowledge, professional knowledge, and social ability of the experimental group were significantly reduced compared to the control group (p < 0.05). ConclusionAttribution retraining provides opportunities for improving the undergraduate nursing students' vocational knowledge, professional knowledge, and social ability. Attribution retraining should be encouraged in undergraduate nursing programs in order to reduce the nursing shortage in mainland China.

The Comparison of Attribution Styles and Emotional Intelligence among the Successful and Unsuccessful Female High School Students in Ahvaz, Controlling for the Intelligence

The objective of the present study was comparing attribution styles and emotional intelligence of the successful and unsuccessful female high school students in Ahvaz, controlling for the intelligence. The population of this study consisted of the successful and unsuccessful female high school students in Ahvaz. The sample of successful and unsuccessful students consisted of 50 high school students each group, who were selected randomly by multi stage sampling method. The instruments used in this study were the Attribution Styles Questionnaire (ASQ) of Seligman and Sing, Self-Rated Emotional Intelligence Inventory (SREII) of Schutt, Raven Standard Progressive Matrices and the grade point average of the students. Also, MANCOVA test was used for analyzing the data. The result of MANCOVA revealed that there was significant differences between in successful and unsuccessful students attribution styles (and its subscales) of the. Also, negative attribution style of the unsuccessful students was more than that of successful group, but positive attribution style of the successful group was more than that of unsuccessful students. In addition, there was significant difference between successful and unsuccessful students’ emotional intelligence (and its subscales).

The Impacts of Attributional Styles and Dispositional Optimism on Subject Well-Being: A Structural Equation Modelling Analysis

The current study examined the impact of attributional styles on subjective well-being, with a primary focus on confirmation of the mediator role of dispositional optimism among a sample of 384 college students. Participants completed a questionnaire packet containing life orientation test-revised, Multidimensional-Multiattributional Causality Scale, and Subjective Well-Being Scale. The results revealed that both dispositional optimism and attributional styles were significantly correlated with subjective well-being. Confirmatory factor analysis identified the latent structure of attributional styles in Chinese college students and found out that both positive and negative effort need to exclude from the structure which was different from findings in Western. Structural equation modeling indicated that optimism partially mediated positive attributional styles to subject well-being (SWB) and negative attributional styles to SWB. The final model also revealed significant both paths from positive and negative attributional styles to subjective well-being through optimism. The findings extended prior researches and shed light on how attributional styles influence subjective well-being; this provides valuable evidence on how to promote subjective well-being in positive psychology.

Relations between Positive and Negative Attributional Styles and Sales Performance as Moderated by Length of Insurance Sales Experience among Japanese Life Insurance Sales Agents

Past studies have shown that a sales agent’s attributional style for positive and negative events is related to sales performance. The aim of the present study was to examine an agent’s length of sales experience as a moderator of the relation between sales performance and attributional style for positive/negative events. 360 Japanese life insurance sales agents were assessed with attributional styles for positive and negative events (would be referred to as positive attributional style and negative attributional style, respectively), sales performance and their lengths of sales experience. It was found that relationship between sales performance and the two types of attributional styles was largely different depending upon length of an agent’s insurance sales experience. Among “novices” (n = 183) whose lengths of insurance sales experience were less than three years, sales performance was related significantly to negative attributional style, whereas it was not related to positive attributional style. By contrast, among “veterans” (n = 177) whose lengths of insurance sales experience were three years or more, sales performance was related significantly to positive attributional style, whereas it was not related to negative attributional style. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.