„‚ CONDITIONS THAT HINDER EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

our employees.” Although this may be accurate, it is not an effective answer to “Why?”
because it means that one would probably not attempt to implement this kind of training
program in the future, perceiving it as an impossible task. Even attributing the failure to
bad luck would be preferable. At least luck can change, leaving open the potential for
future success.
Unfortunately, in such a situation a person might say, “I just cannot communicate
with these people” or, even worse, “I am just not able to present a proposal effectively.”
By attributing failure to a lack of ability, the person may undermine whatever
confidence he or she had in his or her ability to accomplish similar objectives.
On the other hand, a different person might say, “I didn’t prepare enough
information about the financial benefits of this training” or “I should have found out
what their most immediate concerns are and focused the presentation on training
solutions.” This person is attributing failure to a lack of effort or to the use of an
ineffective strategy. This is a much more effective answer because it leaves the person
with the opportunity and confidence to persist in attempting to accomplish the objective.
ATTRIBUTIONS AND MOTIVATION
According to Bernard Weiner (1986), an attribution is an answer to the question
“Why?,” which we ask ourselves in order to make sense of events that happen to us and
to others. In many ways, attributions are attempts to learn about ourselves and our
environment. Of course, our perceptions of ourselves and our environment may differ
from the perceptions of others; even our own perceptions are subject to change.
Weiner’s attribution theory is first concerned with when we ask the question; second, it
is concerned with the answer to the question and how it affects our subsequent thoughts
and behaviors.
In achievement-related activities such as work, we usually ask “Why did I
succeed?” or “Why did I fail?” when we succeed or fail to complete a task or achieve an
objective. We most often ask “Why?” when we fail or when an outcome is other than
expected. This may be because we have an answer for the expected.
Causal Explanations: Ability, Effort, Luck, and Task Difficulty
Although there are an almost infinite number of causal explanations, in achievementrelated
activities, ability, effort, luck, and task difficulty are the most common. Among
these, ability (how competent we are) and effort (how hard we try) are most frequently
used as explanations of our successes and failures. Because achievement is so important
in many cultures, the search for the answer to “Why did I succeed?” or “Why did I fail?”
is a common practice.
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The Pfeiffer Library Volume 6, 2nd Edition. Copyright ©1998 Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer