Attribution, Social Comparison and Academic Performance: ESRC Small Grants Scheme End of Award Report to ESRC

The project will explore the manner in which young people aged 15-19 explain and evaluate their academic performance. Houston (1994) found that high ability individuals may explain their success and failure in a different manner from those who are less able, and differently from that predicted by previous research. The research will explore patterns of attribution, social comparison and achievement as a function of ability in both high and low status, selective and non selective, educational settings. A questionnaire survey will be conducted at three points during the academic year - in the first term, then just before GCSE, A level and college exams, and then on receipt of exam results. This will provide empirical data on the social psychological processes of attribution and social comparison as well as information about the academic aspirations, attitudes and performance of young people in a wide range of schools and colleges.