This study examined the effects of task novelty and attributional focus on effort cue utilization. It was predicted that attainment value would serve as an effort cue when tasks were novel to the achiever and when perceivers made attributions about their own performances. Outcome information was more likely to be used on familiar tasks and by observers. A second purpose of this study was to examine actor/observer differences in achievement attributions. Self-perceivers, yoked with observers, worked on either familiar or unfamiliar tasks. As expected, self-perceivers were more likely to use attainment value as an effort cue than other-perceivers. Other-perceivers were more likely than self-perceivers to use outcome information but only on familiar tasks. The data also indicated support for actor/observer differences in achievement attributions.
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