Sex differences in expectations for success and in causal attributions: Sex role socialization or experience?

Research on sex differences in expectations for success and in causal attributions has been criticized for utilizing masculine biased definitions of achievement (e.g., McHugh, Frieze & Hanusa, 1982). The present study investigated male and female college students\u27 expectations for success and causal attributions for success and failure on masculine and feminine achievement tasks, involving mechanical and nurturance skills, respectively. The masculine achievement task required subjects to identify the source of trouble from engine sounds, whereas the feminine achievement task asked subjects to identify the source of discontent from baby cries. It was found that subjects\u27 self-perceived degree of prior experience with similar tasks had a significant impact on their expectations for success. Expectations for success evidenced a pattern similar to that reported by previous investigations with males holding higher expectations than females (e.g., Deaux & Farris, 1976). However, no such pattern was evident after covariation with prior experience was controlled statistically. The hypothesis that females would maintain higher expectations for success on the feminine achievement task was not supported by the data. Consistent with Deaux\u27s (1976) expectancy model, it was predicted that success on sex-appropriate tasks and failure on sex-inappropriate tasks, i.e., expected outcomes, would elicit internal, stable, and controllable attributions. On the other hand, failure on sex-appropriate tasks and success on sex-inappropriate tasks, i.e., unexpected outcomes, were anticipated to result in external, unstable, and uncontrollable attributions. Hypotheses based on Deaux\u27s expectancy model were not supported by the data. Furthermore, it was anticipated that success on sex-appropriate tasks would result in more positive affective responses than failure on sex-inappropriate tasks, but this pattern was also not demonstrated in the data. However, the data did support the prediction that success feedback would elicit higher expectations for future success than failure feedback. The findings of the present study demonstrate that degree of prior experience is an important consideration in the investigation of expectations for success and causal attributions