The association between attributional styles and academic performance of students in a program of religious studies

In view of the possible relationship between explanatory styles and classroom performance, the problem addressed in this study was to determine if a significant association exists between attributions and academic achievement among students in a program of religious training at a Bible college. The research was designed to ascertain if optimistic attributions are more frequently associated with students in programs of religious education than with students in a public state-supported university environment.;In the Fall semester of 1991, subjects completed the Academic Attributional Style Questionnaire and the Coping with Academic Failures Questionnaire which were developed by Peterson and Barrett (1987). At the conclusion of the semester and with the explicit consent of the subjects, GPAs were obtained for all the participants.;No significant correlation was found between optimistic explanatory styles and the academic achievement of Bible college students. This was true when scores from the Academic Attributional Style Questionnaire were compared with the GPAs and with the Coping with Academic Failures Questionnaire of students from The Criswell College.;A significant positive difference was found to exist between the explanatory styles of students at The Criswell College and students at the University of North Texas. Students in religious courses of study tended toward attributions for negative events that were external, unstable, and specific. The University of North Texas students tended toward attributions for negative events that were internal, stable, and global.;The study was conducted with students at The Criswell College and Graduate School of the Bible, located in Dallas, Texas, and on students at the University of North Texas, located in Denton, Texas. The samples consisted of 100 students from both schools.