Resiliency in the face of adversity: Interactions of attributions upon self-efficacy and performance

Citation

Coffee P & Rees T (2012) Resiliency in the face of adversity: Interactions of attributions upon self-efficacy and performance. British Psychological Society Conference Proceedings. 2012 British Psychological Society Division of Sport & Exercise Psychology Annual Conference, London, 18.04.2012-20.04.2012. http://abstracts.bps.org.uk/index.cfm?&ResultsType=Abstracts&ResultSet_ID=7956&FormDisplayMode=view&frmShowSelected=true&localAction=details

Abstract
Objectives: Attribution research has been slow to respond to calls to explore interactive effects of attributions upon outcomes. Two studies are reported that demonstrate, following less successful performances (or failure), three-way interactive effects for controllability, stability and globality attributions upon self-efficacy and performance. Design: Following less successful performances, Study 1 explored, in a naturalistic environment, interactions of attributions upon self-efficacy. Following failure, Study 2 explored, through a controlled behavioural experiment, two-way interactive effects for stability (stable, unstable) and globality (global, specific) attributions upon self-efficacy and performance, at low levels of controllability (uncontrollability). Method: In Study 1, 239 athletes completed measures of attributions (Time 1, Day 1) and self-efficacy (Time 2; Day 7, 8, or 9) at the site of competitions. In Study 2, 80 athletes completed measures of attributions, self-efficacy and objective performance at baseline and, following induced failure and attribution manipulations, at post-test. Results: Study 1 pointed to the beneficial effects of controllability, but also indicated that self-efficacy might be most harmed when causes of less successful performances are perceived as uncontrollable, stable and global. Study 2 confirmed that only an induced belief that failure was beyond control, unlikely to change and likely to affect a wide range of situations led to lower self-efficacy and worse performance. Conclusions: The results demonstrate that in the face of adversity, perceptions of controllability are beneficial, and that athletes are resilient and believe in the best for themselves unless possibilities to self-enhance are explicitly precluded. In short, whether (and what) we learn from mistakes and failure, depends on whether or not we are encouraged to believe that there is something to learn.