Comparing two attributional models of job performance in retail sales: A field study

Abstract

Research investigating attributional style and job performance among sales staff has been limited by its focus on specific sales roles: notably selling insurance by telephone. Important questions therefore remain regarding the mechanism by which attributions influence job performance in sales roles more generally. This paper describes a field study comparing two attributional models of job performance: (I) a learned helplessness (LH) model, and (2) an achievement motivation (AM) model. Managers' performance ratings were collected for 452 retail sales assistants who completed a job-specific attribution questionnaire and a work-satisfaction questionnaire. Results indicate that sales assistants who made more internal-controllable attributions for positive outcomes received higher performance ratings (r=.20, p