Achievement attributions by young and old judges as a function of perceived age of stimulus person

Descriptions of task performances by young and old women were judged by young (N = 352) and old (N = 96) women on Weiner attributions of ability, effort, task difficulty, and luck, and on chronological age. The two tasks were an academic examination and a driver-license test. Age was more strongly endorsed for the failure of the older than of the younger performer. Conversely, age was more strongly endorsed for the success of the younger than of the older person. The interaction effect of stimulus age by outcome (success, failure) was significant for age attribution only. The only relationship between endorsement of age and ability attributions was found for the old stimulus person engaged in the academically oriented task.