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Attributions for Success or Failure in Sport Performance

Last reviewed: August 14, 2013 ~8 min read
Abstract

Performance, expectations and emotions are ultimately influenced by people, situations and time. Within sport psychology, experiences of practitioners are probably no match to attributions to strategy or lack of effort. People explanations regarding their performances, the cause behind their performances and the impact of these causes on future performance, expectations and emotions are the issues for sport psychology. For sport achievement, a greater influence might be exerted on subsequent attributions and effort related to sport may be more quantifiable and salient. In intellectual tasks, it was perceived that the ability attributions for failure were precluded by the motivational bias, however in sport tasks, the motivational bias will be reduced in attributions for failure. In compare to intellectual tasks, the perception of effort levels must be more quantitative in sport tasks. In sport settings, the relationship between task difficulty and the outcome might be mediated by the effort information suggested by the significant effort obtained on task difficulty by outcome interaction. Effective management of oneself and the environment is the latent goal of the individual in attainment of knowledge as the attributor is a seeker after knowledge besides an attributor. For future actions, a guide or a prescription can be suggested by the possible effective management after the causes or a cause has been assigned. To reinstate the prior causal network there is likely to be an attempt if success was the prior outcome. However, to produce a more positive and different effect, there is likely to be an attempt to alter the causes of the prior event or outcome was undesired, like, economic decline, political loss, social rejection or exam failure.

SUCCESS & FAILURE IN SPORT PERFORMANCE

Sports can be attributed to drastic changes of emotions and expectations by sports fans from their favourite teams or players, based on their performances. These performeances represent the strength, capability and potential of a sportsman or a team. Sports is one of those things where it is almost inevitable to get a result where there is a victor and loser. Sports can be understood as a non-lethal, healthy combat or duel amongst two sportsmen or teams who fight for awards, honours or even bragging rights over each other. This makes the notions of success and failure an integral function of the nature of sports. Through this paper, it is targeted to carry out a thorough analysis and understand the various reasons for which the success and failure in sports performances are witnessed by sportmen and fans. This discussion would aid in determining and developing the many ways in which sports performances can be altered to achieve success and avoid failure using the analysis conducted which would incorporate analyzing physical as well as mental traits and functionalities of a sportsman.

Summary

Performance, expectations and emotions are ultimately influenced by people, situations and time. Within sport psychology, experiences of practitioners are probably no match to attributions to strategy or lack of effort. People explanations regarding their performances, the cause behind their performances and the impact of these causes on future performance, expectations and emotions are the issues for sport psychology. For sport achievement, a greater influence might be exerted on subsequent attributions and effort related to sport may be more quantifiable and salient.In intellectual tasks, it was perceived that the ability attributions for failure were precluded by the motivational bias, however in sport tasks, the motivational bias will be reduced in attributions for failure. In compare to intellectual tasks, the perception of effort levels must be more quantitative in sport tasks. In sport settings, the relationship between task difficulty and the outcome might be mediated by the effort information suggested by the significant effort obtained on task difficulty by outcome interaction. Effective management of oneself and the environment is the latent goal of the individual in attainment of knowledge as the attributor is a seeker after knowledge besides an attributor. For future actions, a guide or a prescription can be suggested by the possible effective management after the causes or a cause has been assigned. To reinstate the prior causal network there is likely to be an attempt if success was the prior outcome. However, to produce a more positive and different effect, there is likely to be an attempt to alter the causes of the prior event or outcome was undesired, like, economic decline, political loss, social rejection or exam failure.

Success & Failure in Sport Performance

Introduction

Performance, expectations and emotions are ultimately influenced by people, situations and time. Within sport psychology, experiences of practitioners are probably no match to attributions to strategy or lack of effort. People explanations regarding their performances, the cause behind their performances and the impact of these causes on future performance, expectations and emotions are the issues for sport psychology (Rees & Et.al, 2005). For sport achievement, a greater influence might be exerted on subsequent attributions and effort related to sport may be more quantifiable and salient.

In intellectual tasks, it was perceived that the ability attributions for failure were precluded by the motivational bias, however in sport tasks, the motivational bias will be reduced in attributions for failure. In compare to intellectual tasks, the perception of effort levels must be more quantitative in sport tasks (Russell & Et.al, 1987). In sport settings, the relationship between task difficulty and the outcome might be mediated by the effort information suggested by the significant effort obtained on task difficulty by outcome interaction.

This essay will reflect upon the analysis of attribution for failure or success in sport performance. This essay will investigate attributions in sport performance and how failures or success is perceived by the players/athletes. This essay will also look on other factors that will influence the performance, like, self-confidence or motivation.

Discussion

Some poor performers are viewed favorably; others are viewed as slimy, ostracized or sabotaged. To poor individual performance in teams, such variability in coworker responses can be explained by attribution theory. In terms of stability, i.e. due to mood or personality trait, controllability, i.e. due to lack of ability or lack of effort, locus of causality between causes that are external, like, a difficult task or good fortune, or between causes that are internal, like, the ability or determination, the failure or success of a performer will be understood by peers, in accordance to attribution theory (Taggar & Neubert, 2004).

In the reactions of members of the team to a play which produce low performance, a prominent role might be played by the attribution explanations or judgments accordingly. The external attributions are associated with the high conscientious poor performers. The poor performer is likely to improve or change her or his effort in the future if an attribution of low stability is made by the observers (Grove & Prapavessis, 1995). To a poor performer, the help can be offered by more than one person as team level analysis is appropriate. Amongst the peers of poor performer, the relatively high amounts of pro-social behavior were associated with the lowest performing individual in a team.

Due to external locus attributions, the high conscientiousness poor performers must be associated with the pro-social behavior. Moderate amounts of actual or intended pro-social behaviors and moderate stability and controllability judgments were associated with conscientiousness poor performers. When the person who performs poorly was perceived to be low in the capability by the peers, the relationship between rejecting and motivation was more negative (Zuckerman, 1979). The members pulling back can be contributed by the emotional reactions and attributions of team members toward poor performers.

Within teams, the appropriate responses to poor performers can be promoted by the potential utility of attribution training and retraining suggested by the impact and existence of attributions on responses of team members to poor performers.

People explanations regarding their performances, the cause behind their performances and the impact of these causes on future performance, expectations and emotions are the issues for sport psychology. Performance, expectations and emotions are predicted to be beneficially influenced by the attribution retraining in accordance to recent studies of sport psychology (Fullin & Mills, 1995). Within sport psychology, experiences of practitioners are probably no match to attributions to strategy or lack of effort. The primary dimension to focus upon is controllability.

Performance, expectations and emotions are ultimately influenced by people, situations and time. The central concern is controllability, irrespective of the place of the cause of an event, external and internal attributions are made by the people although for sport psychology, they are mostly irrelevant (Feather, 1969). In compare to the attribution itself, the dimensions of attributions must be emphasized in designing attribution re-training programs in sport as individuals can reflect in terms of dimension of attribution and particular reasons are considered by different people.

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