Development of a Scale Measuring Student Attributions and Its Relationship to Self-Concept and Social Functioning

A measure of children's attributions (effort, external, ability) for success and failure outcomes in the social domain was developed for the present study. The instrument was administered to 237 fourth and fifth graders. Moderate to good psychometric properties were obtained: Cronbach's alphas.63 to.85; item-subscale correlation coefficients,.50 to.83; and supportive model-based factor analytic data. Social outcomes attributed to ability and effort were significantly related to self-concept and social functioning. More specifically, data supported hypothesized relationships among students' self-attributions for social success and failure. Some implications for the classroom are described.