The Link between Student Identity,Attributions,and Self-Esteem among Adult,Returning Students

This study investigates the relationships between causal attributions, student identity, and self-esteem among a sample of adult students who were returning to college to complete a degree after a break of at least three semesters. Leaving college was conceptualized as a “failure” in the sense that the student had failed to complete a degree when previously enrolled, and returning to school was conceptualized as an achievement event or “success” A “hedonistic bias” was found in the way students explained leaving school, that is, they denied responsibility for leaving, explaining their departures with primarily external causes. Although external causes for returning were also more numerous, there was a tendency for internal reasons to increase from the time of leaving to the time the student returned to school. The student identity was related to many aspects of self-esteem, but internal attributions were not related to self-esteem. Internal causal attributions were not related to the student identity, but “activity-oriented” attributions were related to occupational status, suggesting a connection between the occupational identity and attribution processes. The findings are discussed in the context of attribution theory and self-presentation theory.