When the chips are down: Effects of attributional feedback on self-efficacy and task performance following initial and repeated failure

Citation

Coffee P & Rees T (2011) When the chips are down: Effects of attributional feedback on self-efficacy and task performance following initial and repeated failure. Journal of Sports Sciences, 29 (3), pp. 235-245. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2010.531752

Abstract
In two experiments, we manipulated the controllability and stability of causes of failure and explored the impact of these factors on self-efficacy and performance. In Experiment 1, participants (N = 80; mean age 20.0 years, s = 1.0) were provided with false negative feedback following performance on a blindfolded dart-throwing task. Consistent with theory and recent research, an induced belief that failure was beyond control and unlikely to change led to lower self-efficacy and poorer performance (all F 1,75 greater than 5.49, all P less than 0.05, all η2 = 0.01). A second experiment (N = 80; mean age 22.0 years, s = 2.1) demonstrated that following an induced belief that failure was beyond control and unlikely to change, only new perceptions that a repeated failure was within one's control and likely to change resulted in higher self-efficacy and improved performance (all F 1,75 greater than 4.53, all P less than 0.05, all η2 greater than 0.004). All effects were mediated by self-efficacy: Sobel's (1982) test, all z greater than 1.97 (in absolute magnitude), all P less than 0.05, all r greater than 0.22 (in absolute magnitude). These findings suggest that in novel circumstances individuals believe in the best for themselves unless possibilities to self-enhance are explicitly precluded, and only reinvest efforts when opportunities for self-enhancement become clearly admissible.

Keywords
Controllability; stability; mediation; moderation

Journal
Journal of Sports Sciences: Volume 29, Issue 3