ATTRIBUTION STYLES AS A PREDICTOR OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN BIOLOGY IN ANAMBRA STATE

Abstract

The study investigated the predictive influence of attribution styles on secondary school students’ 
academic achievement in Biology. Three research questions, guided the study, with three null 
hypotheses tested at 0.05 alpha levels. A co-predictive research design was adopted. A sample of 
594 SS2 students, drawn from the 24,102 Senior Secondary Year Two (SS2) students offering 
Biology in Anambra State, was drawn using multistage sampling procedure. Two instruments: 
Attribution Styles Questionnaire (ASQ) and Biology Score Proforma (BSP), containing students’ 
achievement scores in biology, for the 2024/2025 academic session, were used for data collection. 
The adapted instrument (ASQ) validated by three expects was subjected to reliability testing, using 
Cronbach alpha method, to yield a coefficient value of 0.87. Data collected were analyzed using 
regression analyses. The findings revealed among others that attribution styles accounted for 9.4% 
variance in students’ academic achievement in Biology. On gender, the study revealed that while 
attribution styles significantly contributed to male students’ academic achievement, the contrary 
were recorded for the female students. Furthermore, the study revealed that attribution styles is a 
significant predictor of secondary school students' academic achievement in Biology. On relative 
contributions of individual dimensions of attribution styles, the study revealed that all the 
dimensions of attribution styles individually and jointly, significantly predicted students’ academic 
achievement in biology, except for internal versus external dimension of attribution styles. Based 
on the findings, it was recommended among others that Biology teachers should encourage 
students to develop positive attribution styles by helping them associate academic success with 
effort, determination, and effective study practices.