The attributional response of males and females to noncontingent feedback

The attributions of male and female college student subjects following exposure to noncontingent, contingent, and no-feedback conditions were analyzed in a 2×3 multivariate analysis of variance. The experimental hypothesis was that exposure to noncontingent feedback would result in more depressive attributions than exposure to contingent feedback or to no feedback, and that this effect would be moderated by gender. The hypothesis was partially supported in that females receiving noncontingent feedback on a concept discrimination problem subsequently made more internal attributions for negative events than male subjects receiving noncontingent feedback and female subjects receiving contingent feedback or no feedback.