Event Centrality as Mediator Between Attributions and Mental Health Outcomes

Consistent with the Reformulated Model of Learned Helplessness, attributions that are more internal, stable, and global have been shown to be associated with greater posttraumatic stress and depression symptoms. Even though the Reformulated Model of Learned Helplessness has been revised to clarify that attributions are most likely to lead to adverse outcomes when the event is considered to be important to the person and the outcomes very negative (Hopelessness Model of Depression), most attribution studies do not account for the importance of the event to the individual. The current study examined whether perceptions of event importance mediated the relationship between attributions and posttraumatic stress and depression symptoms in a sample of 313 college students who reported about their worst life event. Consistent with the Hopelessness Model of Depression, results supported the mediational role of event significance. Findings suggest that maladaptive attributions may contribute to symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder and depression both directly and through the event’s importance to a person’s sense of identity.     

Attributions and politics

Four hundred electors took part in an experiment to test the proposition that political preferences have an effect on how people attribute the determinants of wealth. As predicted, respondents preferred environmental explanations to the causes provided relating to personal qualities. Again as anticipated preferences for environmental interpretations were less pronounced among Conservative party supporters. It was argued that more attention be paid to the attributions of different sections of society and that such findings have important implications both for attribution theory itself and in an improved understanding of the nature of political attitudes.     

The Interactive Effects of Sales Force Controls on Salespeople Behaviors and Customer Outcomes

Although studies have examined the antecedents and consequences of sales force control (SFC) systems, little research investigates how different SFC elements interact or work together to affect salespeople behaviors and customer outcomes. Drawing on a diverse literature, this study hypothesizes interactive influence of three formal control elements (i.e., output, activity, and capability) on two customer-directed sales behaviors (i.e., problem solving and opportunism), which subsequently affect customer relationship outcomes. Using data collected from matched business-to-business buyer–seller dyads in China, the authors find that output and activity controls reduce both problem solving and opportunism when used together. Output and capability controls synergistically enhance problem solving and reduce opportunism, whereas activity and capability controls interact to reduce problem solving and increase opportunism. In addition, sales behaviors have significant effects on customer relationship satisfaction, which in turn affects customer share of wallet.     

Nonsmokers' Attributions for the Outcomes of Smokers: Some Potential Consequences of the Stigmatization of Smokers1

The current research examines intergroup attributional biases made by nonsmokers for the outcomes of smokers. Nonsmokers were asked to make attributions for either the success or failure of either an in-group member (a nonsmoker) or an out-group member (a smoker). Overall, subjects attributed the preponderance of cause for the outcomes to external or unstable (approximately 80%) rather than internal (approximately 20%) factors. However, results confirmed the expected in-group protective and in-group enhancing attributions on the part of nonsmokers. Specifically, nonsmokers attributed a significantly higher proportion of success to external factors and a lower proportion of success to internal factors when the target was a smoker compared to when the target was a nonsmoker. The implications of these results for smokers and smoking policy are discussed.     

Transdiagnostic Associations Among Parental Causal Locus Attributions,Child Behavior and Psychosocial Treatment Outcomes: A Systematic Review

Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review - Parents’ interpretations of the cause of their children’s behavior, i.e., parental attributions, are linked to parenting behavior and child...     

Discounting Attributions and Multiple Determinants

The discounting principle in attribution theory was considered a well-established phenomenon until recently, when both the empirical and theoretical basis for discounting have been questioned. Many instances of strong discounting have used measures that constrain explanations, such as a forced-choice and bipolar measures. Two studies were performed simulating Thibaut and Riecken's study of attributions for target persons' compliance to a request, which used a forced-choice measure. In the present studies, a range of measures were used. Responses of two samples of Oxford students and one sample of Oxford teachers indicate that multiple causation was perceived and subjects did not greatly discount either of two relevant causes, but there was nonetheless a compensatory relation between the causes. The results also indicate that the attributions were affected by the social categories of the target person and the subjects.     

Luck Attributions and Cognitive Bias

Philosophers have developed three theories of luck: the probability theory, the modal theory, and the control theory. To help assess these theories, we conducted an empirical investigation of luck attributions. We created eight putative luck scenarios and framed each in either a positive or a negative light. Furthermore, we placed the critical luck event at the beginning, middle, or end of the scenario to see if the location of the event influenced luck attributions. We found that attributions of luckiness were significantly influenced by the framing of the scenario and by the location of the critical event. Positively framing an event led to significantly higher lucky ratings than negatively framing the same exact event. And the closer a negative event was placed toward the end of a scenario, the more unlucky the event was rated. Overall, our results raise the possibility that there is no such thing as luck and thereby pose serious challenges to the three prominent theories of luck. We instead propose that luck may be a cognitive illusion, a mere narrative device used to frame stories of success or failure.     

Knowledge Attributions and Behavioral Predictions

Recent work has shown that knowledge attributions affect how people think others should behave, more so than belief attributions do. This paper reports two experiments providing evidence that (a) knowledge attributions also affect behavioral predictions more strongly than belief attributions do, and (b) knowledge attributions facilitate faster behavioral predictions than belief attributions do. Thus, knowledge attributions play multiple critical roles in social cognition, guiding judgments about how people should and will behave.     

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: The Medicalization of Misbehavior

During the past decade, there has been an increase in the diagnosis and treatment of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This syndrome, typically diagnosed in childhood, is characterized by inattention, hyperactive motor behavior, and distractibility. Current prevalence rates obtained in various countries generally exceed the 3–5% reported by DSM-IV. Reasons for increased ADHD prevalence include changes in diagnostic standards, overlap between ADHD and other externalizing disorders, nonspecific behavioral criteria, and the rapid effects of stimulant medication on cognitive functioning. However, social, cultural, and economic factors may also contribute to increased diagnosis. ADHD has become a common topic in the lay media. Popular discussions of ADHD may serve as a metaphoric expression of social anxieties, particularly with respect to children. At the same time, ADHD has rapidly become incorporated into a medical model, with emphasis on pharmacological treatment. Reductions in mental health and educational services, as well as economic pressures of managed care, may also contribute to medicalization of behavioral problems. Collaboration between psychologists and primary care physicians can lead to more accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment of ADHD and related disorders.     

Attributions for affluence

There have been very few psychological studies on explanations for wealth, though there have been a number of studies on explanations for poverty and attributions for success and failure. Previous research on explanations for poverty has indicated that people attributed poverty primarily to societal influences, personal responsibility and fate, and that various demographic factors are associated with different patterns in the explanation for poverty. It was hypothesized that attributions for wealth are of the same kind as those for poverty, but that the salient demographic variables are associated in significantly opposite ways. This study attempted to assess which demographic variables, notably Sex, Education and Voting Pattern, were related to explanations of wealth in Britain. Vote appeared to be a very important variable, with Conservatives rating positive Individualistic explanations, and Labour voters Societal explanations, as most important in explaining wealth. Factor analysis supported the a priori classification of the explanations for wealth. The results are discussed in terms of the psychology of explanations, political socialization and fiscal measures.     

Students' Perceptions of Class Management and Reports of Their Own Misbehavior

This study examines relationships between students' perceptions of class management and their self-reported misbehavior. Findings are based on a national representative sample of 3834 students from 227 classes in grades 6 and 9 who were attending Norwegian schools. Students' perceptions of class management accounted for significant amounts of variance in self-reported misbehavior. Perceived class management was more strongly associated with off-task orientation and opposition toward teachers than with bullying. Explained variance in misbehavior was markedly higher on the individual than on the class level. Student misbehavior seems only moderately related to general differences in the class management a class encounters. The relatively high variance in off-task orientation and opposition toward teachers accounted for by perceived class management at the individual student level might indicate that the extent of such misbehaviors is more closely linked to how teachers adapt management to particular students or to how students are favored by teachers. Perceived emotional support from teachers showed the strongest positive associations with desired student behavior.     

Misconduct and Misbehavior Related to Authorship Disagreements in Collaborative Science

Science and Engineering Ethics - Scientific authorship serves to identify and acknowledge individuals who “contribute significantly” to published research. However, specific authorship...     

中小学生课堂问题行为研究述评

学生的课堂问题行为是中小学教师在课堂管理中迫切需要解决的问题。通过对近20年来国内外研究进行梳理分析,发现学生的课堂问题行为具有普遍性。教师和学生知觉到的问题行为具有一致性。课堂问题行为受到学校、家庭、学生自身、文化等因素的影响。该领域的研究存在基础理论研究比较薄弱;对学生课堂问题行为产生的神经生理机制研究不足,缺少长期追踪研究和跨学科研究等问题。未来研究应借鉴认知神经科学的研究成果和研究方法,深入探索课堂问题行为产生的神经机制;加强对特殊群体的研究,研究对象向低龄延伸;加强教师培养培训和干预研究,不断提升教师解决学生课堂问题行为的专业化水平。     

Attributions for Exam Performance

The expectancy confirmation and egotism approaches to attributions in achievement settings are contrasted in this study. It was found that students in two psychology classes expected to do well on their exams and that these expectations were based on internal factors (ability, effort). Post-test attributions were determined almost entirely by the simple valence of the outcome (success-failure). High outcomes were associated with internal attributions and low outcomes were associated with external attributions. It appears that students who perform poorly avoid the blame for failure by making ego-defensive external attributions and that these attributions enable them to make unreasonably high predictions for future performance. Some limited support was found for the notion that attribution may be affected by the degree to which outcomes confirm or disconfirm expectations.     

The Effects of Discipline Responses in Delaying Toddler Misbehavior Recurrences

ABSTRACT

To compare the effectiveness of maternal punishment (e.g., time out, spanking), reasoning, and the combination of the two, 40 volunteer mothers recorded their responses to incidents of toddler fighting and disobedience in a structured diary for 4 weeks. Punishment frequency correlated positively with misbehavior frequency, but non-punishment responses correlated even more strongly with misbehavior. The mean delay until a misbehavior recurrence was significantly longer after a punishment-reasoning combination (e.g., 20.0 waking hours until a fighting recurrence) than after punishment alone (9.3 hrs.), reasoning alone (8.8), or other responses (9.4), P <.001. The results are discussed in terms of cognitive developmental and behavioral perspectives of parental discipline. Corporal and non-corporal forms of punishment are also compared.