Optimistic Attributional Style as a Predictor of Well-Being and Performance in Different Academic Settings

Ch. 14. P. 159–174.

Gordeeva T. O., Osin E. N.

The existing findings on the relationship between optimism and academic performance are rather contradictory. Two studies were undertaken to investigate thе relationship between attributional style, well-being, and academic performance. A new Russian-language measure of attributional style for positive and negative events (Gordeeva, Osin, Shevyakhova, 2009) with stability, globality, and controllability subscales was used. In the first study, optimistic attributional style for good events was associated with higher academic achievement in high school students  (N=225) and mediated the effect of academic performance on self-esteem. In the second study, pessimistic attributional style for negative events predicted success in passing three difficult written entrance examinations in university entrants (N=108), and optimistic attributional style for good events predicted success with success expectations as a mediator. The results indicate that attributional styles for positive and negative events are not uniform in their relationship to performance in different academic settings and to well-being variables.

Keywords: успеваемость, academic performance, академическая успешность, optimism, attributional style, success and failure, STOUN questionnaire, academic achievement, grade point average, well-being, оптимизм, атрибутивный стиль, успехи и неудачи, опросник СТОУН, психологическое благополучие

In book

The Human Pursuit of Well-Being: A Cultural Approach

Brdar I. Dordrecht, L., Heidelberg, NY: Springer, 2011.