John Marron
16 October 2001
 
Weiner’s attribution theory and how teachers react to the students’ attributions are key components of motivation in today’s classroom.  His theory identifies why students react in different ways based on their achievements and expectations.  The attribution theory gives us a psychological guide to what internally motivates students to become motivated or to remain unmotivated in the classroom.
 
Weiner has proposed a three-dimension taxonomy for classifying all attributions.  The locus of causality dimension stresses the location of a cause as internal or external to the individual.  Stability of causality refers to whether or not the cause changes over a period of time.  The final classification is the responsibility of the student toward the cause and whether or not the student can control the cause. (Albert & Luzzo, 1999)
 
There is a possibility of eight different combinations of these three different classifications.  It is important for a teacher to recognize these different combinations, and the teacher must react to each combination accordingly.
Appropriate reactions from a teacher will encourage students and motivate them to continue their work.  An inappropriate response or indifference from a teacher will have a detrimental effect on students’ work ethics.
 
After receiving a grade on a test, paper, project or homework students are likely to evaluate their performance and compare it to the grade they got.  Students begin to have “action-oriented thoughts, and (make) evaluative statements.  Action-oriented thoughts deal with coping resources and options (e.g., “What can I do about the situation?”), whereas evaluative statements are intended to express students’ beliefs about their competence (“Am I smarter than I think?”).  (Möller & Köller, 1999)  When students are asking themselves these questions, it is imperative for teachers to step in and provide the correct response for students to be encouraged and remain motivated.
 
Ziegler and Heller’s study of high school-aged girls in mathematics and physics classes showed significant improvement after teachers gave appropriate feedback to students following an assignment.  Students were praised for good work, received some admonishment as well as some support for average assignments, and scolded for below average work.  The study showed an overall improvement in all students’ work after getting feedback from the teacher. (Ziegler & Heller, 2000)  This proves students attempt to attribute their successes and failures to a stimulus, and appropriate responses from teachers will motivate them to do better.
 
It is important for teachers to understand the eight different combinations, which can be attained under Weiner’s attribution theory.  Teachers must recognize these combinations as a doctor must be able diagnose specific diseases.  In this manner, a teacher must use the proper feedback to achieve a higher lever of motivation, as a doctor must prescribe the right treatment to treat the disease or ailment.
 
A student is likely to attempt to detect where they fell short after a failure.  “Failure leads to a more analytical perspective, which leads to an increase in attributions.  In addition, affective reactions are stronger after failure than after success and can be regulated by attributional activity. The basic law of effect relates to a motivational after failure, that is, avoiding and coping with future negative events.” (Möller & Köller, 1999)
 
The toughest of the eight combinations for a teacher to deal with is when a student fails and attributes their failure to internal stable conditions that are out of their control.  If students feel they have failed because of a lack of ability they will have to be convinced they are competent to do their assignments.  A teacher must take extra steps to make sure this student continues to be included so he or she does not withdraw completely.  A teacher may want to ask the student questions to which the teacher is sure the student knows the answer.  If the student answers correctly, he or she will begin to feel more competent, and avoid the depths of learned helplessness.
 
When students’ attribute failure to external, stable, and uncontrollable causes, it can be also hard to help.  The student believing school is too difficult, or not having a quiet place where he or she can study at home are common examples of this type of attribution.  At these times, a teacher may have to work extra to ensure this student has an equal opportunity to succeed.  The teacher may have to allow this student to stay late at school to do work where there can be more teacher-student interaction.  If a teacher is willing to work extra with students, many students will recognize the teacher’s work ethic and motivate themselves to work and comply with the teacher’s expectations.
 
An internal, unstable, and uncontrollable situation may be a student having an illness. This is usually easier for a teacher to deal with.  A teacher may have to make special arrangements to get this student up-to-date, however a student is likely to be motivated to catch up with his peers and will probably become self-motivated to get the work done.
 
If a student fails and attributes his or her failure to an internal, stable, and controllable reason, such as not trying in class, a teacher must take steps to interest that student.  A teacher may want to take time to find out what interests the students’ have; therefore, if a problem like this arises, they can give an assignment which will spark student interest.  In this way, a student who never tried before will become interested, and his or her class work will improve.
 
Externally, stable, controllable attributes can be tough for teachers to deal with.  A student may have a bad attitude toward school, or not like certain teachers.  It may be tough because the feeling is stable, which means the student has held this conviction for a while and does not plan on changing this belief.  However, the attribution still is controllable which means a teacher may influence a student to change his or her views, which would in turn solve the problem.
 
A possible external, unstable, and controllable situation could be a student may have been in an unfamiliar situation and was preoccupied with other things and did not worry about the class.  This is relatively easy for a teacher to deal with because the student will usually try to remedy the situation without help.  Since the attribute is controllable, the student will probably be successful in doing so.  All the teacher may need to do is encourage the student to stay on task.
 
The final possible combination a teacher may encounter under Weiner’s theory is an internally, unstable, controllable attribution.  This could entail the student not studying, or the student merely choosing not to pay attention.  Usually a small degree of admonishment from a teacher will encourage the student to get back on track, and they will be motivated to complete the rest of the work.

Most reasons for failing on assignment can be categorized into one of the eight classifications previously mentioned.  Teachers must take every situation and analyze the cause for what happened, then must apply an appropriate motivational strategy to get the desired effect.  A teacher’s ability to diagnose these situations can make them a valuable asset.  Inability to identify these problems can negate an over-abundance of knowledge that a teacher may have.  If a student is not motivated to learn, they will not learn no matter how intelligent the teacher is.
 
Weiner’s attribution theory can apply to group work within a classroom as well. “ Weiner’s theory provides a framework for understanding the process individuals go through when deciding whether or not to offer help.  An individual’s decision is preceded by a causal attribution, followed by an emotional reaction to the attribution, which leads to the decision to either help or not to help.” (Bennett & Flores, 1998)  If a student involved with group work sees someone in the group who is not contributing, the student will likely decide whether or not he should help this person.  The student who is thinking of offering help will first analyze the situation; students will ask themselves why the other group member is not contributing.  If the student attributes the other member lack of effort to that member being ill for the group work, he is likely to offer help, because the student will realize that it is not that group member’s fault.  If the student considering offering help attributes the other group member’s lack of production to laziness, the student is likely to become angry and withhold help from that student.
 
For teachers to be effective, they must motivate their students to learn the material.  Even a teacher who knows everything about his subject area cannot teach an indifferent and unmotivated student.  The student has to want to learn.  It is imperative for teachers to understand Weiner’s attribution theory and correctly apply solutions based on their knowledge.  Teachers have to have an acute understanding of the attribution theory to be effective teachers.
 

 Bennett, T. R., Flores, M. S.  (1998).  Help giving in achievement contexts: a developmental and cultural analysis of the effects of children’s attributions and affects on the their willingness to help.  Journal of Educational Psychology, 90, 659-669.

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