NEW-ZEALAND AND SINGAPOREAN ATTRIBUTIONS AND ACHIEVEMENT PERCEPTIONS

Several aspects of cross-cultural differences in attributions remain r elatively unexplored, including the issue of different criteria for su ccess and failure, different forms of achievement motivation, the like lihood of making attributions, and different perceptions of causes on the dimensions of controllability, stability, and locus. The present s tudy solicited New Zealand (Pakeha/European descent) and Singaporean ( Chinese) students' attributions for their own success and failure in e xaminations. Also assessed were the criteria of success and failure, t he likelihood of obtaining success and failure, the importance of achi eving success and failure, the relative likelihood of giving an attrib ution for success or failure, and ratings of ten causes on the dimensi ons of controllability locus, and stability. Differences between the c ultures were obtained for several of these factors. These differences are related to different values in the two cultures, and have implicat ions for theories of attribution and achievement motivation.