| This study examined the general question of the relationship between students’
attribution style and their self-efficacy beliefs in early adolescence. Quantitative methods
were used to examine Seligman’s attribution theory using the Children’s Attributional
Style Questionnaire (CASQ) (Kaslow, Tanenbaum, & Seligman, 1978), as well as
Bandura’s (1989a) Multidimensional Scales of Perceived Self Efficacy to examine
students’ attribution style and their perceived efficacy in self-regulated learning.
Attribution style is the way in which people explain events, or the pattern of explanations
for what causes events (Abramson, Seligman, & Teasdale, 1978) and it is represented by
three dimensions: (a) permanence (b) pervasiveness and (c) personalization. There were
statistically significant differences between attribution style for gender and academic
streams. In particular, the study revealed that males displayed an external-control
attribution style for positive events and an internal-control orientation attribution style for
negative events. The study also indicated that the Express Stream participants felt more
hopeful about their future as compared to the Normal Stream peers. Students’ attribution
style is positively associated with their efficacy for self-regulated learning. These
findings were interpreted in terms of educational implications and student empowerment,
with suggestions made for future studies.
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