Search

This study examines some well-known attributional tendencies in a unique situation. Specifically, it examines attributions for the unexpected fall of a Canadian hero, Ben Johnson, who was stripped of his Olympic gold medal for the use of anabolic steroids. The results reveal a reversal of the fundamental attributional bias and the use of base rate information in observers' attributions. The findings are interpreted and discussed in terms of Pyszczynski and Greenberg's (1987) biased hypothesis-testing model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article applies the gender-based attribution theory to the Canadian track athlete Ben Johnson's loss his gold medal for using a banned performance-enhancing steroid. Attribution theories have largely ignored the effects of gender or sought cross-situational predictions for the foci of men's and women's attributions. A theoretical position that sheds light on gender and attributions is that of differential moral development of men and women. Sociologist C. Gilligan claimed that in Western societies mother-centered early socialization leads to a rule-and-rationality based morality in men that maximizes self-interest. In contrast, women learn to emphasize relationships, and their ensuing morality is empathic, responsive to others' needs, and sensitive to context-specific circumstances. Thus, attributions of' the two sexes may be due to the fact that men resolve moral dilemmas through an instrumental and women through a socio-emotionai logic that Gililgan called the ethic of care.