Perceiving the Causes of Success and Failure

Abstract

The present study examines cross-cultural perceptions of causal attributions pertinent to success and failure in achievement-related contexts. Two groups of participants(taxi drivers and civil servants) from five nations (Belgium, West Germany, India, South Korea, and England) rated 22 causal ascriptions (including ability, effort, task difficulty, and luck) on four causal properties (locus, stability, controllability, and globality). There was high agreement among the two social class groups as well as among four of the nations regarding the ratings of specific causes on the causal dimensions. However, Indian respondents rated all causes as more external, variable, and uncontrollable than did participants from the other cultures. With the exception of the Indian data, the results suggest that a priori classifications of causal attributions have cross-cultural validity and that causal dimensions suggested by attribution theorists capture basic aspects of the meanings of causes that are shared in different cultures.