Attribution Style Questionnaire

From Seligman (1990), takes around 15 minutes to complete

Directions: Read the description of each situation and vividly imagine it happening to you. You have probably not ex
but that doesn’t matter. Perhaps neither response will seem to fit; go ahead anyway and type the number "1" next t
to you. There are no "right" or "wrong" answers. Ignore the scores on the right for now. When you complete all the
calculated.

Situations

The project you are in charge of is a great success. Type "1"to indicate
Why? your choice below
You kept a close watch over everyone’s work. 0
Everyone devoted a lot of time and energy to it 0

You and your spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend make up

after a fight.
You forgave him/her. 0
You’re usually forgiving. 0

You get lost driving to a friend’s house.

You missed a turn. 0
Your friend gave you bad directions. 0

You are frequently asked to dance at a party.

You were sitting in the right seat. 0
You looked the most enthusiastic. 0

You forget your spouse’s/boyfriend/girlfriend’s

birthday.
You aren’t good at remembering birthdays. 0
You were preoccupied with other things. 0

You get a flower from a secret admirer.

You are attractive to him/her. 0
You are a popular person. 0

You run for a community office position and you

win.
You devote a lot of time and energy to
campaigning. 0
You work very hard at everything you do. 0
You miss an important engagement.
Sometimes your memory fails you. 0
You sometimes forget to check your appointment
book. 0

You run for a community office position and you

lose.
You didn’t campaign hard enough. 0
The person who won knew more people. 0

You host a successful dinner.

You were particularly charming that night. 0
You are a good host. 0

You stop a crime by calling the police.

A strange noise caught your attention. 0
You were alert that day. 0

Your spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend surprises you

with a gift.
He/she just got a raise at work. 0
You took him/her out to a special diner the night
before. 0

You were extremely healthy all year.

Few people around you were sick, so you weren’t
exposed. 0
You made sure you ate well and got enough rest. 0

You owe the library ten dollars for an overdue

book.
When you are really involved in what you are
reading, you often forget when it is due. 0
You were so involved in writing the report, you
forgot to return the book. 0

Your stocks make you a lot of money.

You broker decided to take on something new. 0
You broker is a top-notch investor. 0

You win an athletic contest.

You were feeling unbeatable. 0
You trained hard. 0

You fail an important examination.

You weren’t as smart as the other people taking the
exam. 0
You didn’t prepare for it well. 0

You prepared a special meal for a friend and

he/she barely touched the food.
You weren’t a good cook. 0
You made the meal in a rush. 0

You lose a sporting event for which you have been

training for a long time.
You are not very athletic. 0
You aren’t good at that sport. 0

Your car runs out of gas on a dark street late at

night.
You didn’t check to see how much gas was in the
tank. 0
The gas gauge was broken. 0

You lose your temper with a friend.

He/she is always nagging me. 0
He/she was in a hostile mood. 0

You are penalized for not returning your income-

tax form on time.
You always put off doing your taxes. 0
You were lazy about getting your taxes done this
year. 0

You ask a person out on a date and he/she says

no.
You are a wreck the rest of the day. 0
You got tongue-tied when you asked him/her on
the date. 0

A game show host picks you out of the audience to

participate in the show.
You were sitting in the right seat. 0
You looked the most enthusiastic. 0

You buy your spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend a gift

and he/she doesn’t like it.
You don’t put enough thought into things like that. 0
He/she has very picky tastes. 0

You do exceptionally well in a job interview.

You felt extremely confident during the interview. 0
You interview well. 0

You tell a joke and everyone laughs.

The joke was funny. 0
Your timing was perfect. 0

Your boss gives you too little time in which to

finish a project, but you get it finished anyway.
You are good at your job. 0
You are an efficient person. 0

You’ve been feeling run-down lately.

You never get a chance to relax. 0
You were exceptionally busy this week. 0

You ask someone to dance and he/she says no.

You are not a good enough dancer. 0
He/she doesn’t like to dance. 0

You save a person from choking to death.

You know a technique to stop someone from
choking. 0
You know what to do in crisis situations. 0

Your romantic partner wants to cool things off for

a while.
You are too self-centered. 0
You don’t spend enough time with him/her. 0

A friend says something that hurts your feelings.

He/she always blurts things out without thinking of
others. 0
Your friend was in a bad mood and took it out on
you. 0

Your employer comes to you for advice.

You are an expert in the area about which you were
asked. 0
You are good at giving useful advice. 0

A friend thanks you for helping him/her get

through a bad time.
You enjoy helping him/her through tough times. 0
You care about people. 0

You have a wonderful time at a party.

Everyone was friendly. 0
You were friendly. 0

Your doctor tells you that you are in good physical

condition.
You make sure you exercise frequently. 0
You are very health-conscious. 0

Your spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend takes you away

for a romantic weekend.
He/she needed to get away for a few days. 0
He/she likes to explore new areas. 0

Your doctor tells you that you eat too much sugar.
You don’t pay much attention to your diet. 0
You can’t avoid sugar, it’s in everything. 0

You are asked to head an important project.

You just successfully completed a similar project. 0
You are a good supervisor. 0

Your spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend have been

fighting a great deal.
You have been feeling cranky and pressured lately. 0
He/she has been hostile lately. 0

You fall down a great deal while skiing.

Skiing is difficult. 0
The trails were icy. 0

You win a prestigious award.

You solved an important problem. 0
You were the best employee. 0

Your stock are at an all-time low.

You didn’t know much about the business climate
at the time. 0
You made a poor choice of stocks. 0

You win the lottery.

It was pure chance. 0
You picked the right numbers. 0

You gain weight over the holidays and you can’t

lose it.
Diets don’t work in the long run. 0
The diet you tried didn’t work. 0

You are in the hospital and few people come to

visit.
You are irritable when you are sick 0
Your friends are negligent about things like that. 0

They won’t honor your credit card at a store.

You sometimes overestimate how much money you
have. 0
You sometimes forget to pay your credit-card bill. 0

After you have put a "1" next to your answers for each question, return
to the top of the sheet to review your baseline scores.
tyle Questionnaire
es around 15 minutes to complete

appening to you. You have probably not experienced some of the situations,
ead anyway and type the number "1" next to the option that is likelier to apply
e right for now. When you complete all the questions, your final scores will be

Your Baseline Scores

(calculated after you have completed all questions)

Permanence Bad Score 0 Very optimistic

Permanence Good Score 0 Very pessimistic
Pervasiveness Bad Score 0 Very optimistic
Pervasiveness Good Score 0 Very pessimistic

Stuff of Hope 0 Moderately hopeless

Personalization Bad Score 0 Very optimistic
Personalization Good Score 0 Very pessimistic
Total Bad Score 0 Very optimistic
Total Good Score 0 Very pessimistic
Good Minus Bad Score 0 Moderately pessimistic