General causality orientations and defensive attributions of failure on academic exam

Abstract

Defensive behaviour after failure, such as denial of the responsibility for own achievement, reduces person's openness for further learning and development and, thus, is undesirable in pedagogical practice. General causality orientations success-fully predict defensive behaviours after failure. Autonomous causality orientation implies behaviours motivated by personal growth and development, while controlling orientation purports ego-involved behaviours aimed at proving one's own self-worth. The research was conducted with the aim of testing two hypotheses (additive and synergistic) about the influence of general causality orientations and their combinations on defensive attribution of failure on the exam. After their faculty exam, N=158 psychology students answered questions about the expected grade and they filled out two questionnaires: Attribution of Success on the Test and General Causality Orientation Scale. The results showed that internal attribution of success is related to greater expected grade and higher autonomous causality orientation. External attribution was characteristic for individuals with high controlling causal orientation. It was confirmed that general causality orientations can predict the way a person perceives academic success. Thus, we give recommendations on how to support and encourage autonomous and discourage controlling behaviours of students.

Odbrambena ponašanja koja se javljaju nakon neuspeha, poput odricanja odgovornosti za postignuti rezultat, umanjuju otvorenost osobe za dalje učenje i razvoj i stoga su nepoželjna sa aspekta pedagoške prakse. Generalne kauzalne orijentacije omogućavaju predviđanje ovakvih odbrambenih ponašanja. Autonomna orijentacija podrazumeva ponašanje motivisano ličnim rastom i razvojem, a kontrolišuća orijentacija ukazuje na usmerenost ponašanja na potvrđivanje sopstvene vrednosti. Sprovedeno je istraživanje sa ciljem da se ispitaju dve hipoteze (aditivna i sinergistička) koje daju različita predviđanja o uticaju kauzalnih orijentacija na ispoljavanje odbrambenog ponašanja nakon ispitnog neuspeha. Nakon ispita iz fakultetskog kursa 158 studenata psihologije odgovaralo je na pitanja o očekivanoj ispitnoj oceni i popunjavalo Upitnik atribucije uspeha na testu i Skalu generalnih kauzalnih orijentacija. Rezultati pokazuju da je atribuiranje ispitnog uspeha unutrašnjim faktorima uslovljeno višom očekivanom ispitnom ocenom i autonomnom kauzalnom orijentacijom. Spoljašnja atribucija uspeha bila je izraženija kod osoba sa kontrolišućom kauzalnom orijentacijom. Potvrđeno je da kauzalne orijentacije omogućavaju predviđanje odbrambenog reagovanja na akademski neuspeh, iz čega slede preporuke koje se tiču načina podsticanja autonomnog i umanjivanja kontrolišućeg ponašanja studenata.