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Causal Attributions (causal + attribution)
Selected AbstractsAge Bias in the Workplace: The Impact of Ageism and Causal Attributions,JOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 6 2006Deborah E. Rupp This study considers the roles of managerial ageism and causal attributions in the age bias process. Specifically, we predicted that employee age and manager ageism would interact in predicting the severity of recommendations made about an employee's performance errors, such that ageist managers would be more likely to engage in age bias. Second, we proposed that age bias is caused partially by differential attributions made about the performance errors of older vs. younger workers. Results indicated that older employees received more severe recommendations for poor performance than did their younger counterparts. Also, some ageist attitudes moderated the relationship between age and performance recommendations. Stability attributions mediated the relationship of employee age on endorsement of the more punitive recommendations. [source] Self-Efficacy and Causal Attributions: Direct and Reciprocal LinksJOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 4 2000Alexander D. Stajkovic This study examines Bandura's (1986, 1997a) propositions that self-efficacy provides information from which causal attributions are made and that causal attributions, in turn, influence formation of subsequent self-efficacy expectations. We developed a conceptual rationale for and empirically tested 2 sets of hypotheses pertaining to direct and reciprocal links between self-efficacy and causal attributions. Effects of causal attributions and subsequently formed self-efficacy on subsequent task performance were also investigated. Results support the existence of direct and reciprocal links between self-efficacy and causal attributions. We found interactive effects between self-efficacy and performance feedback on causal attributions, and a mediating effect of causal attributions on the formation of subsequent self-efficacy beliefs. Causal attributions and subsequent self-efficacy also significantly predicted subsequent performance. [source] How information about building design influences causal attributions for earthquake damageASIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 4 2007John McClure Causal attributions for events are shaped by information about causal mechanisms that contribute to the events. In the case of damage from earthquakes, these mechanisms include the design of buildings. Three studies presented scenarios drawn from actual reports of recent earthquakes (Kobe, Japan and Northridge, California, USA), including statements by engineers about the quality of the design of damaged and undamaged buildings. Studies examined whether this design information affected attributions for earthquake damage. Participants attributed damage to building design more strongly and rated damage more preventable when scenarios referred to the poor building design of damaged buildings than when scenarios gave no design information. Information about the excellent design of undamaged buildings had less consistent effects. This effect was most consistent with scenarios about the design of damaged buildings. These findings show that mechanism (design) information does influence judgments about damage in earthquakes and, by implication, other hazards. [source] Telithromycin-associated hepatotoxicity: Clinical spectrum and causality assessment of 42 cases,HEPATOLOGY, Issue 1 2009Allen D. Brinker Telithromycin is the first of a new class of ketolide antibiotics with increased activity against penicillin-resistant and erythromycin-resistant pneumococci. This agent received approval by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2004 for treatment of upper and lower respiratory infections. Following market introduction, spontaneous reports of telithromycin-associated hepatotoxicity, including frank liver failure, were received. To address these reports, an ad hoc group with expertise in spontaneous adverse events reporting and experience in evaluating drug-induced liver injury was formed, including members of the FDA, other federal agencies, and academia. The primary objective of this group was to adjudicate case reports of hepatic toxicity for causal attribution to telithromycin. After an initial screening of all cases of liver injury associated with telithromycin reported to FDA as of April 2006 by one of the authors, 42 cases were comprehensively reviewed and adjudicated. Five cases included a severe outcome of either death (n = 4) or liver transplantation (n = 1); more than half were considered highly likely or probable in their causal association with telithromycin. Typical clinical features were: short latency (median, 10 days) and abrupt onset of fever, abdominal pain, and jaundice, sometimes with the presence of ascites even in cases that resolved. Concurrence in assignment of causality increased after agreement on definitions of categories and interactive discussions. Conclusion: Telithromycin is a rare cause of drug-induced liver injury that may have a distinctive clinical signature and associated high mortality rate. Consensus for attribution of liver injury to a selected drug exposure by individual experts can be aided by careful definition of terminology and discussion. (HEPATOLOGY 2009;49:250-257.) [source] Opportunism in Capital Budget Recommendations: The Effects of Past Performance and Its Attributions,DECISION SCIENCES, Issue 3 2001Joanna L. Ho Abstract This study uses an experiment to examine the separate and combined effects of managers' loss aversion and their causal attributions about their divisions' performance on tendencies to make goal-incongruent capital budget recommendations. We find that managers' recommendations are biased by their loss aversion. In particular, managers of high-performing divisions are more likely than managers of low-performing divisions to propose investments that maximize their division's short-term profits at the expense of the firm's long-term value. We also find that managers' recommendations are biased by their causal attributions. In particular, managers are more likely to propose investments that maximize their division's short-term profits at the expense of the firm's long-term value when they attribute their division's performance to external causes (e.g., task difficulty or luck) rather than to internal causes (e.g., managerial ability or effort). Further, the effects of causal attributions are greater for managers of high-performing divisions than for managers of low-performing divisions. The study's findings are important because loss aversion and causal attributions are often manifested in firms. Thus, they may bias managers' decisions, which in turn may be detrimental to the firms' long-term value. [source] Living with Type 2 diabetes: a family perspectiveDIABETIC MEDICINE, Issue 7 2007P. White Abstract Aim To explore the beliefs, attitudes and perceptions of adults with Type 2 diabetes and their family members. Methods Focus groups were conducted with: (i) people with good diabetes control (HbA1c < 7.0%); (ii) their family members; (iii) people with poor diabetes control (HbA1c > 8.5%); and (iv) their family members. Results There were no discernible differences between those with good and poor diabetes control or between the family members of each group. Overall, family members perceived diabetes to be more serious and as having a greater impact on daily life than those with the illness. Those with diabetes were unaware of this heightened concern and had a more relaxed approach to living with diabetes. The lack of information and perceived knowledge about diabetes impacted upon participants' causal attributions about the illness and its perceived severity. Conclusions Diabetes is an illness that affects both individuals and families. There is a need for further investigation into the impact that family members have on the management of diabetes. [source] Patients' health beliefs and coping prior to autologous peripheral stem cell transplantationEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF CANCER CARE, Issue 2 2007E. FRICK md The aim of this study was to determine the associations between health locus of control (LoC), causal attributions and coping in tumour patients prior to autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. Patients completed the Questionnaire of Health Related Control Expectancies, the Questionnaire of Personal Illness Causes (QPIC), and the Freiburg Questionnaire of Coping with Illness. A total of 126 patients (45% women; 54% suffering from a multiple myeloma, 29% from non-Hodgkin lymphomas, and 17% from other malignancies) participated in the study. Cluster analysis yielded four LoC clusters: ,fatalistic external', ,powerful others', ,yeah-sayer' and ,double external'. Self-blaming QPIC items were positively correlated with depressive coping, and ,fate or destiny' attributions with religious coping (P < 0.001). The highest scores were found for ,active coping' in the LoC clusters ,powerful others' and ,yeah-sayer'. External LoC and an active coping style prevail before undergoing autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation, whereas the depressive coping is less frequent, associated with self-blaming causal attributions. Health beliefs include causal and control attributions, which can improve or impair the patient's adjustment. A mixture between internal and external attributions seems to be most adaptive. [source] Young adults' achievement and attributional strategies in the transition from school to work: antecedents and consequencesEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 4 2002Sami Määttä This study focused on investigating the extent to which the achievement and attributional strategies individuals deploy influence their success in dealing with the transition from school to work, and whether their success or failure in this particular would have consequences for the kinds of strategy they deployed later in life. Two hundred and fifty young adults filled in the Cartoon-Attribution-Strategy Inventory, a revised version of Beck's Depression Inventory, and a work status questionnaire at the beginning of the last spring term of their curriculum, four months after their graduation, and a year and a half after it. The results showed that the deployment of maladaptive strategies, such as passive avoidance, led to problems in dealing with the transition from school to work. In turn, young adults' problems in dealing with this transition decreased their use of self-serving causal attributions, which was also found to lead to increased depressive symptomatology. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] When more observations are better than less: a connectionist account of the acquisition of causal strengthEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 2 2001Frank Van Overwalle The statistical law of large numbers prescribes that estimates are more reliable and accurate when based on a larger sample of observations. This effect of sample size was investigated on causal attributions. Subjects received fixed levels of consensus and distinctiveness covariation, and attributions were measured after a varying number of trials. Whereas prominent statistical models of causality (e.g. Cheng & Novick, 1990; Försterling, 1992) predict no effect of sample size, adaptive connectionist models (McClelland & Rumelhart, 1988) predict that subjects will incrementally adjust causal ratings in the direction of the true covariation the more observations are made. In three experiments, sample size effects were found consistent with the connectionist prediction. Possible extensions of statistical models were considered and simulated, but none of them accommodated the data as well as connectionist models. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Explanation And Thought Experiments In HistoryHISTORY AND THEORY, Issue 1 2003Tim De Mey Although interest in them is clearly growing, most professional historians do not accept thought experiments as appropriate tools. Advocates of the deliberate use of thought experiments in history argue that without counterfactuals, causal attributions in history do not make sense. Whereas such arguments play upon the meaning of causation in history, this article focuses on the reasoning processes by which historians arrive at causal explanations. First, we discuss the roles thought experiments play in arriving at explanations of both facts and contrasts. Then, we pinpoint the functions thought experiments fulfill in arriving at weighted explanations of contrasts. [source] The Impact of Service User Cognitive Level on Carer Attributions for Aggressive BehaviourJOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH IN INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES, Issue 3 2002Hannah Tynan Background This study was designed to test the hypothesis that carer attributions for aggressive behaviour vary according to a service user's severity of intellectual disability. Methods Forty-two residential care staff participated in an investigation examining the effects of the level of a service user's intellectual disability on causal attributions for their aggressive behaviour. Equal numbers of participants were assigned to either a ,mild disability' or a ,severe disability' condition and required to read a vignette depicting a service user with aggressive challenging behaviour. The service user's cognitive abilities were experimentally manipulated across conditions, whilst the behaviour described remained unchanged. Participants were required to make attributions along Weiner's (1980) dimensions of locus, stability and controllability, and in accordance with five prominent models of challenging behaviour (Hastings 1997b). Results The service user depicted in the mild disabilities condition was perceived to have significantly greater control over factors causing the aggressive behaviour than the service user in the severe disabilities condition. Participants in the severe disabilities condition considered the aggression to be significantly more challenging. Learned behaviour and emotional causal models of aggressive behaviour were favoured, whilst the physical environment account was seen as least appropriate. Additionally, the biomedical model was rated as significantly more applicable in the severe disability condition than in the mild disability condition. Conclusions Implications for staff and service users are discussed. In particular, the relationship between staff causal attributions for challenging behaviour, their emotional responses and willingness to engage in helping behaviour is explored. [source] Age Bias in the Workplace: The Impact of Ageism and Causal Attributions,JOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 6 2006Deborah E. Rupp This study considers the roles of managerial ageism and causal attributions in the age bias process. Specifically, we predicted that employee age and manager ageism would interact in predicting the severity of recommendations made about an employee's performance errors, such that ageist managers would be more likely to engage in age bias. Second, we proposed that age bias is caused partially by differential attributions made about the performance errors of older vs. younger workers. Results indicated that older employees received more severe recommendations for poor performance than did their younger counterparts. Also, some ageist attitudes moderated the relationship between age and performance recommendations. Stability attributions mediated the relationship of employee age on endorsement of the more punitive recommendations. [source] Self-Efficacy and Causal Attributions: Direct and Reciprocal LinksJOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 4 2000Alexander D. Stajkovic This study examines Bandura's (1986, 1997a) propositions that self-efficacy provides information from which causal attributions are made and that causal attributions, in turn, influence formation of subsequent self-efficacy expectations. We developed a conceptual rationale for and empirically tested 2 sets of hypotheses pertaining to direct and reciprocal links between self-efficacy and causal attributions. Effects of causal attributions and subsequently formed self-efficacy on subsequent task performance were also investigated. Results support the existence of direct and reciprocal links between self-efficacy and causal attributions. We found interactive effects between self-efficacy and performance feedback on causal attributions, and a mediating effect of causal attributions on the formation of subsequent self-efficacy beliefs. Causal attributions and subsequent self-efficacy also significantly predicted subsequent performance. [source] Community perceptions of mental disorders: a Greek perspectiveJOURNAL OF COMMUNITY & APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 2 2006Anastasia Zissi Abstract The present cross-sectional study examines the perceptions of residents of a rural community in Greece pertaining to the interpretation, explanation, treatment and prognosis of various psychological problems. In all, 100 community residents took part. A series of vignettes in combination with both qualitative and quantitative data collection procedures was employed. The findings indicate a variation in the endorsement of interpretations and causal attributions as a function of the type of symptomatology presented. The overt psychotic cases of schizophrenia were more likely to be understood within a genetic explanatory framework while the less overt symptoms of mental disorders were perceived as being indicative of emotional problems triggered by personality and social environmental factors. A preference for psychological methods of treatment was expressed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Self-Serving Attributions in Corporate Annual Reports: A Replicated StudyJOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, Issue 1 2002Eric W. K. Tsang This study is a replication of Bettman and Weitz (1983) in the Singapore context. Data from Letters to Shareholders in 208 annual reports published in 1985 and 1994 were used to analyse the patterns of causal explanations for corporate performance outcomes. The general self-serving pattern of attributions found in the original study was also identified in this study. However, the data of the original study do not unequivocally support either the motivational or informational explanation for the existence of self-serving attributions, whereas the latter explanation is strongly supported by the data of this study. This finding is consistent with the growing evidence provided by cross-cultural psychological research indicating East Asians' greater sensitivity to situational influences when making causal attributions. In short, the present study clearly illustrates the important role of replication in the knowledge accumulation and theory development of strategy research. [source] Locus of control and psychopathology in relation to levels of trauma and loss: Self-reports of Peloponnesian wildfire survivorsJOURNAL OF TRAUMATIC STRESS, Issue 3 2009Robert C. Mellon This study investigated whether relations between beliefs about the personal controllability of reinforcing events and levels of psychopathology were differentiated with respect to levels of trauma and loss experienced in a series of devastating wildfires. In contrast with studies of combat veterans and professional firefighters, in wildfire survivors external locus of control beliefs and psychopathology were correlated only in respondents who experienced higher levels of trauma and loss; specifically, for residents of designated disaster areas (N = 409), but not for a demographically matched sample of residents of adjacent, non-fire-damaged areas (N = 391). The conflicting findings across studies are interpreted with respect to probable differences in contingencies of reinforcement for causal attributions in professionals and in novices in disaster management. [source] Subgroups of Attributional Profiles in Students with Learning Difficulties and Their Relation to Self-Concept and Academic GoalsLEARNING DISABILITIES RESEARCH & PRACTICE, Issue 2 2005José Carlos Núñez The aim of this article was fourfold: first, to determine whether there are significant differences between students with (N= 173) and without learning disabilities (LD; N= 172) in the dimensions of self-concept, causal attributions, and academic goals. Second, to determine whether students with LD present a uniform attributional profile or whether there are subgroups of attributional profiles among students with LD. Third, to explore differences between these profiles on the dimensions of self-concept, academic goals, perception of competence-incompetence, persistence when faced with failure, peer relationships, and academic achievement. Fourth, to determine whether there are significant differences in the dimensions of self-concept and academic goals between NLD students and the different LD subgroups. The results indicate the existence of two very distinct attributional profiles in students with LD (Helplessness Profile and Adaptive Profile). The implications of these data with regard to theory and research, as well as educational practice, are discussed. [source] A big chapter about small theories: Theory as method: Small theories of treatmentsNEW DIRECTIONS FOR EVALUATION, Issue 114 2007Laura C. Leviton This chapter situates Lipsey's chapter on small theories in the now much-broader literature on program theory, and highlights key contributions like the focus on relevant constructs and causal attributions. An overview of the critical issues in theory-driven applied research is presented. [source] Beliefs about cancer causation and prevention as a function of personal and family history of cancer: a national, population-based studyPSYCHO-ONCOLOGY, Issue 10 2008Emily L. B. Lykins Abstract Objective: Research suggests individuals possess multifaceted cognitive representations of various diseases. These illness representations consist of various beliefs, including causal attributions for the disease, and are believed to motivate, guide, and shape health-related behavior. As little research has examined factors associated with beliefs about cancer causation, this study examined the relationship between personal and family history of cancer and beliefs about the causes and prevention of malignant disease. Methods: Data were obtained from 6369 adult respondents to the 2003 Health Information National Trends Survey, a national population-based survey. Information about personal and family history of cancer and beliefs regarding cancer causation and prevention was obtained. Results: Results showed both a personal and family history of cancer were associated with differences in beliefs about the causes of cancer. In general, a personal history of cancer was not significantly linked to causal attributions for cancer relative to those without a personal history. In contrast, a family history of cancer tended to increase the likelihood a respondent viewed a particular cause as increasing cancer risk. Thus, personal and vicarious experience with cancer had dramatically diverging influences on attributions of cancer causation, which may be due to differing self-protection motives. Conclusion: Results support the belief that illness representations, in this case the causal belief component, are influenced by both personal and vicarious experience with a disease and also suggest illness representations may influence receptivity to messages and interventions designed to increase appropriate cancer risk reduction behavior. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The evolving experience of illness for Chinese women with breast cancer: A qualitative studyPSYCHO-ONCOLOGY, Issue 2 2003Wendy W.T. Lam The study of illness meaning in cancer in western communities has usually focused on causal attributions. We report a phenomenological study of 17 Hong Kong Chinese women with breast cancer, interviewed on completion of initial treatment, and describe how the illness experience and hence, meaning evolves for women in the Hong Kong Chinese culture. Themes arising from the identification and treatment of the disease include the difficulty of living in uncertainty and of maintaining and regaining normalcy in a superstitious society. The initial uncertainty of disease detection and the diagnostic process are characterized by shock and disbelief mingled with fear of death. Treatment choice presents women with difficulties arising from more uncertainty over the pressure to make quick decisions and the dilemma of death or mutilation. Following treatment, re-evaluation, re-prioritizing and positive life-re-evaluation occur. Changes in appearance proved problematic for those women who tried to hide their disease to protect themselves against stigmatization and social exclusion. In many ways, these findings parallel studies on western populations, suggesting that a common disease,medical care process is a predominant influence in shaping breast cancer experience. Implications for care are drawn from these data. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] How information about building design influences causal attributions for earthquake damageASIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 4 2007John McClure Causal attributions for events are shaped by information about causal mechanisms that contribute to the events. In the case of damage from earthquakes, these mechanisms include the design of buildings. Three studies presented scenarios drawn from actual reports of recent earthquakes (Kobe, Japan and Northridge, California, USA), including statements by engineers about the quality of the design of damaged and undamaged buildings. Studies examined whether this design information affected attributions for earthquake damage. Participants attributed damage to building design more strongly and rated damage more preventable when scenarios referred to the poor building design of damaged buildings than when scenarios gave no design information. Information about the excellent design of undamaged buildings had less consistent effects. This effect was most consistent with scenarios about the design of damaged buildings. These findings show that mechanism (design) information does influence judgments about damage in earthquakes and, by implication, other hazards. [source] Implicit Theories of Intelligence Predict Achievement Across an Adolescent Transition: A Longitudinal Study and an InterventionCHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 1 2007Lisa S. Blackwell Two studies explored the role of implicit theories of intelligence in adolescents' mathematics achievement. In Study 1 with 373 7th graders, the belief that intelligence is malleable (incremental theory) predicted an upward trajectory in grades over the two years of junior high school, while a belief that intelligence is fixed (entity theory) predicted a flat trajectory. A mediational model including learning goals, positive beliefs about effort, and causal attributions and strategies was tested. In Study 2, an intervention teaching an incremental theory to 7th graders (N=48) promoted positive change in classroom motivation, compared with a control group (N=43). Simultaneously, students in the control group displayed a continuing downward trajectory in grades, while this decline was reversed for students in the experimental group. [source] Illness perceptions in depersonalization disorder: Testing an illness attribution modelCLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOTHERAPY (AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THEORY & PRACTICE), Issue 2 2007Dawn Baker Depersonalization disorder (DPD) remains poorly understood and controversial in terms of diagnosis and treatment. Little is known about the cognitive representation of this disorder. In this study, 80 participants with DPD were assessed using the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire to determine the nature of their perceptions, causal attributions and whether these correlate with levels of depersonalization and affect. Illness perceptions were generally negative; the nature of symptoms was described as mainly psychological but causal attributions were equally divided between psychological and physical. Over half of the sample believed that symptoms were due to ,physical changes in the brain'. A strong illness identity, psychological illness attributions and high levels of depression were associated with greater depersonalization disorder severity. High levels of anxiety were also prevalent but the relationship between anxiety and depersonalization was unclear. The findings offer some support for a cognitive model of understanding depersonalization disorder, namely that attribution processes are linked to perceived symptom severity and a wide range of experiences come to be seen as part of the disorder.,Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||