The Power of Cause and Effect (Attribute Awareness)

Students who are empowered with control over their lives and who have strong self-esteem often are more productive and creative. They see their effort, energy, persistence, determination, and hard work as the causes of their success. They are more likely to see that success can be brought about by their own efforts.

These students also consistently set goals for themselves. They usually have an arsenal of strategies and coping mechanisms for accomplishing their goals (Zimmerman, 1989). These students have also internalized "self-regulation" and believe that they have enough control to get things done (Strahan, 2008).

Students with low self-esteem, who feel helpless and out of control of their lives, often attribute the effects they create to some force outside themselves. You may hear these students say:

• "It was his fault that I couldn't complete my work."
  
• "I can't do this because of (so and so)."

They attribute their success or lack of it to luck, magic, circumstance, whom they know, or being in the right place at the right time. Some students even connect their failure to their lack of ability; consequently, they do not study or make an effort to study (Zimmerman, Greenberg, & Weinstein, 1994). 

Moreover, a broader range of learning can occur when learners perceive they are in control (Meichenbaum & Biemiller, 1998). Students are more likely to assume responsibility in school when their self-efficacy rises and as they develop self-regulatory competencies (Zimmerman, Bonner, & Kovach, 2006).

This topic presents eight activities that you can use with students to help them see and feel the role they play in creating their own experiences, both successful and unsuccessful. Each activity gives students a lesson in cause (their choice) and effect (the result their choice produces). The goal of each activity is to increase students’ personal power by helping them perceive how they can be the cause of much of what happens in their lives.