Effect of prolonged deprivation on attributional style

The effects of prolonged deprivation and outcome on attributional style were examined in a 2 x 2 factorial design with two levels of deprivation (high and low) and two levels of outcome (good and bad). Indian subjects (N = 80) were selected on the basis of extreme scores on a prolonged deprivation scale; they provided an attributional style scale of good and bad outcome situations. High-deprived subjects attributed bad outcomes to more internal, stable, and global causes compared with low-deprived subjects. In addition, high-deprived subjects showed internal attributions of a stable and global type for both bad and good outcomes.