Meaning and Motivation in Adult Perceptions of Causality

Abstract

Research on attributions across adult age groups, like other attribution research, has been dominated by an information processing model. Restrictions in this model, however, become particularly problematic when examining adult attributions. A set of free descriptions of situations and interview responses were gathered from young, middle-aged, and older adults. These data show that perceptions of causality are only one part of a construction of success and failure that is both socially and personally malleable. Aspects of these constructions appear to be cohort- or age-sensitive; in particular, middle-aged adults were more likely to view their conceptions as different from both parents and children than young or old adults. These data point to a meaning-oriented approach to attributional statements rather than the causal perception approach best dealt with by the information processing model.