Question

Identify a true statement about the study conducted by Yan and Gaier (1994) on causal attributions for college success and failure in Asian and American college undergraduate and graduate students.
a) Asian students believed that effort was more important for success than lack of effort was for failure.
b) Asian students experienced lower levels of parental support.
c) American students attributed academic achievement more often to ability.
d) American students considered effort equally important for success or failure.

Answer 1

Answer:

c) American students attributed academic achievement more often to ability.  

Explanation:

The study shows that American students much likely would attribute their academic success to ability than Asian students would.

As the chart shows, the level of attribution to success given to ability varies; with American students, it is 12. 4, while with all Asian students (Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Southern Asian) it is 11 and below.

Same with effort - when it comes to success, American students this effort is more important (level is 12.6 compared to levels of Asian students that go below 12).

Considering the level of task and luck are pretty much similar when it comes to both Asian and American students, it can be concluded that American students think that ability and effort attribute to their academic success more than other factors do.