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Personality correlates of attributional style
The Journal of Psychology
|September 1, 1989
Summary
Personality traits significantly correlate with attributional style, influencing how individuals explain positive and negative events. An Activity-Extraversion-Stability factor showed the strongest link to these attributional patterns.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
- Personality Psychology
Background:
- Learned helplessness model of depression suggests links between personality and attributional style.
- Attributional style influences cognitive and emotional responses to events.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationships between various personality variables and attributional style.
- To identify specific personality factors that correlate with attributional tendencies.
Main Methods:
- Administered Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ) and Comrey Personality Scales (CPS) to 329 subjects.
- Utilized correlational and multiple regression analyses.
- Factor analyzed CPS scores and correlated them with ASQ scores.
Main Results:
- Confirmed statistically significant relationships between multiple personality variables and attributional style.
- Found positive correlations with internal, stable, and global attributions for positive events.
- Observed negative correlations with internal, stable, and global attributions for negative events.
- Identified an Activity-Extraversion-Stability factor as having the strongest association with attributional style.
Conclusions:
- Personality variables are significantly related to attributional style.
- Understanding these personality correlates is crucial for interpreting attributional style.
- Findings support a revised theoretical framework for attributional style and personality.