Academic achievement and attributions among college students: Effects of gender and sex typing

Should We Really Be Afraid of "Weakness"? Applying the Insights of Attribution Theory

It is widely assumed that the term "weakness" has negative psychological effects and should be replaced by "area for improvement." The present study is the first to examine the matter experimentally. It was hypothesised that effects of "weakness" (vs. "area for improvement") are most pronounced in those with low perceived self-efficacy in the relevant domain. Two experiments were conducted in the domain of self-regulation. In those with low perceived self-efficacy for self-regulation (PSESR), "weakness" apparently had a negative indirect effect on improvement expectancy by increasing the perceived stability (Experiment 1) or lowering the perceived controllability (Experiment 2) of the problem. Moreover, at low levels of PSESR in Experiment 2, estimated indirect effects of "weakness" on perceived value of improvement were both positive and negative. However, gender apparently moderated those effects. "Weakness" apparently lowered perceived controllability in both males and females but in women the negative effect was more pronounced when PSESR was low. In addition, "weakness" apparently increased perceived internality in males with low PSESR. Compared to "area for improvement," "weakness" may indeed have some (negative) psychological effects in people with low perceived self-efficacy in the relevant domain. Given the ubiquity of these terms in evaluative contexts and the widespread fears of the term "weakness," more experimental research needs to be conducted.

Orientações motivacionais de alunos do curso de biblioteconomia

A motivação é um importante problema de investigação, pois tem implicações diretas na qualidade do envolvimento do aluno com a aprendizagem. Nesta pesquisa, analisaram-se as orientações motivacionais de alunos do curso de Biblioteconomia, de uma universidade pública do norte do Paraná, a partir da identificação do tipo de motivação, das estratégias de aprendizagem utilizadas, da percepção de desempenho acadêmico e da Perspectiva de Tempo Futuro. Participaram do estudo 143 alunos das quatro séries do curso. Os dados da pesquisa foram coletados por meio de um questionário de autorrelato, contendo 80 questões do tipo escala likert, elaboradas e analisadas de acordo com a Teoria da Autodeterminação e a Perspectiva de Tempo Futuro. Os resultados indicaram uma tendência para os tipos mais autônomos de motivação, o estabelecimento de metas a serem alcançadas no futuro e a percepção das atividades acadêmicas do presente como instrumentais para o alcance dessas metas futuras.

Is There a Universal Positivity Bias in Attributions? A Meta-Analytic Review of Individual, Developmental, and Cultural Differences in the Self-Serving Attributional Bias

Researchers have suggested the presence of a self-serving attributional bias, with people making more internal, stable, and global attributions for positive events than for negative events. This study examined the magnitude, ubiquity, and adaptiveness of this bias. The authors conducted a meta-analysis of 266 studies, yielding 503 independent effect sizes. The average d was 0.96, indicating a large bias. The bias was present in nearly all samples. There were significant age differences, with children and older adults displaying the largest biases. Asian samples displayed significantly smaller biases (d = 0.30) than U.S. (d = 1.05) or Western (d = 0.70) samples. Psychopathology was associated with a significantly attenuated bias (d = 0.48) compared with samples without psychopathology (d = 1.28) and community samples (d = 1.08). The bias was smallest for samples with depression (0.21), anxiety (0.46), and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (0.55). Findings confirm that the self-serving attributional bias is pervasive in the general population but demonstrates significant variability across age, culture, and psychopathology.