Success/Failure Bias in Attributions Across Involvement Categories in Sport

Studies addressing success/failure biases in attributions for sport performance have produced equivocal results. The traditional hypothesis that success will be internalized and failure externalized has been supported in some studies but not in others. A few investigations have indicated that winners do, however, make more stable and controllable attributions than losers. This study examined the generality of this effect among II 0 players, coaches, and spectators in recreational basketball competitions. Results indicated that winning outcomes were indeed attributed to more stable and controllable causes than losing outcomes. These findings were consistent across all categories of involvement (players, coaches, spectators) and were not affected by outcome margin (game close, game not close). Discussion focuses on the operation of situational norms in sport that may have contributed to these effects.