Sports Psychology: Attribution

Introduction to Attribution

Attribution is the process of explaining causes of behaviour and events.
In the context of sport, it’s about how players explain their wins or losses, succeed or fail.
Understanding attribution can help improve an athlete’s performance and mental well-being.

Attribution Theory

Attribution Theory, developed by psychologist Fritz Heider, suggests that individuals try to determine why people do what they do, i.e., attribute causes to behaviour.
People predominantly attribute outcomes either to internal factors such as ability or effort, or external factors such as task difficulty or luck.

Weiner’s Model of Attribution

Psychologist Bernard Weiner further developed this theory to specifically focus on achievement.
He proposed three dimensions to understand attributions: locus of control, stability, and controllability.
Locus of Control: The degree to which people believe they have control over the outcome of an event. Internal control refers to personal effort or ability, while external control refers to circumstances or luck.
Stability: The extent that the outcome will change over time. If the cause is seen as stable, performance is unlikely to change. If the cause is seen as unstable, performance can improve in the future.
Controllability: The extent to which the individual feels they can control the cause. Some factors are controllable (like effort) while others are not (like luck).

Impacts of Attribution

Athletes’ attributional styles can affect their motivation, confidence, and future performance.
Attribution Retraining: Athletes can be taught to make more adaptive attributions to improve their future performance and coping skills.

Self-Serving Bias

Athletes may attribute their successes internally and failures externally–a phenomenon known as self-serving bias. This can help maintain self-esteem but may not always lead to performance improvement.

Learned Helplessness

If failures are attributed to stable and internal factors (like lack of ability), it can lead to learned helplessness–a belief that one cannot control the outcomes, leading to a decrease in effort and motivation.
Conversely, attributing failures to changeable and external factors can lead to enhanced motivation and performance improvement.

Summary

Understanding attributions can help athletes, coaches, and sports psychologists to manipulate cognitions and behaviours to improve performance.
Effective use of attributions can help maintain and improve self-efficacy, motivation, and ultimately sports performance.