ABILITY VERSUS EFFORT REVISITED - THE MORAL DETERMINANTS OF ACHIEVEMENT EVALUATION AND ACHIEVEMENT AS A MORAL SYSTEM

This article examines the moral determinants of achievement evaluation . Conceptual analyses of the distinction between ability and effort ar e Offered in which responsibility inferences and affective reactions p lay key roles mediating the relations between causal attributions and evaluation. Three new research directions are then pointed out that pe rtain to a distinction between onset and offset responsibility for ach ievement failure, the perceived fairness of achievement evaluation, an d what adolescents communicate to peers after achievement outcomes. Th e article next examines the function of punishing lack of effort. Fina lly, achievement is viewed as a moral system, which suggests different research directions from those which have dominated the field. This r esearch thrust focuses on achievement values and social obligations.