This study examined whether professional teachers' attributions for the achievement outcomes of high- and low-expectancy children were mediated by an individual difference measure known as the Personal-Environmental Causal Attribution Scale. 40 elementary school teachers completed a questionnaire in which both students' ability and performance outcomes were manipulated variables. Teachers identified as Environmental on the attribution scale were predisposed to employ task difficulty as a causal explanation for children's failure. Results were discussed in relation to the “Pygmalion effect.”
CooperH. M.LoweC. A.Task information and attributions for academic performance by professional teachers and roleplayers. Journal of Personality, 1977, 45, 469–483.
3.
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LoweC. A.MedwayF. J.BeersS. E.Individual differences in causal attributions: The personal-environmental causal attribution scale. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, 1978.
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RosenthalR.On the social psychology of the self-fulfilling prophecy: Further evidence for Pygmalion effects and their mediational mechanisms. New York: MSS Modular Publ., 1974.
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RotterJ. B.Some problems and misconceptions related to the construct of internal versus external control of reinforcement. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1975, 28, 56–67.
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WeinerB.FriezeI. H.KuklaA.ReedL.RestS.RosenbaumR. M.Perceiving the causes for success and failure. Chicago: General Learning Press, 1972.
