An Empirical Test of an Attributional Model of Leaders' Responses to Poor Performance.

Two studies tested an attributional model of leaders' responses to poor performance. The results showed that (1) consensus, consistency, and distinctiveness helped in determining attributions, (2) that internal attributions led to punitive responses on the part of supervisors, and (3) that supervisors used more internal attributions and punitive responses when the consequences of the performance were serious than not serious.