Gender and grade level as predictors of attributions in reading and mathematics in students of Compulsory Secondary Education

Abstract

This study analyzed the predictive role of the gender and grade level on academic self-attributions in language and mathematics. The Sydney Attribution Scale (SAS) was administered to 2,022 students from grades 7 to 10. Logistic regression analyses indicated that gender and grade were statistically significant predictors of academic self-attributions, al-though the results varied for each of the scales of the SAS. The results showed that the causal attributions were different in boys and girls de-pending on the academic content area. The boys showed a more positive attributional style in mathematics while girls showed more positive aca-demic self-attributions in reading. It was also noted that in the higher grades, both boys and girls, further attributed their failures in reading and math to internal causes.