Attributional style predicts causes of negative life events on the Attributional Style Questionnaire.

Full Abstract

The causes cited by 218 participants for the hypothetical positive and negative life events on the Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ) and the dimensional ratings of the causes were examined to determine the match between the dimensional and categorical definitions of attributional style. Optimists (n = 105) and pessimists (n = 113) used different types of causes to explain the negative ASQ events, but not the positive events. However, optimists' and pessimists' causal explanations shared a number of features. The findings suggest that attributional styles depend, in part, on the event being explained and demonstrate that the ASQ events elicit specific types of causes.

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Author information

Author/s: Higgins, N C (NC); Hay, Jana L (JL);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Northern British Columbia, Canada. nhiggins@stu.ca

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: The Journal of social psychology (J Soc Psychol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2003-Apr; vol 143 (issue 2) : pp 253-71

Dates: Created 2003/05/08; Completed 2003/06/03; Revised 2004/11/17;

PMID: 12735522, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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