Sex Roles, Vol. 8, No. 4, 1982 Sex Differences in Performance Attribution and Contingency Judgment 1 Paul T. P. Wong 2 Trent University In two studies, male and female subjects were given attribution measures before and after performance on a novel finger maze. Neither study revealed any sex differences in expectancy and anticipated attributions prior to maze perform- ance. In Experiment 1, no sex differences in attributions were obtained regard- less of whether the outcome was success or failure. In Experiment 2, where the outcome was made completely noncontingent on behavior, females had greater illusion of control as well as higher luck attribution. This paradoxical finding was interpreted as reflecting females' tendency to depend on external and in- ternal attributions simultaneously. Sex differences in self-attribution have been reported by a number of investi- gators. Some findings suggest that females tend to take less credit for their suc- cess and more blame for their failure than males (Feather & Simon, 1973;Jack- away, Note 1). It has also been found that females compared to males take less credit for success, but also take less blame for failure (Feather, 1969). More recent studies have shown greater external attribution (especially luck ascrip- tion) by females after both success and failure (Bar-Tal & Frieze, 1977; Wiegers & Frieze, 1977). In fact, one of the most frequently reported sex differences in attribution is that females are more likely to attribute success to luck than males (Bar-Tal & Frieze, 1"977; Feather, 1969; Feather & Simon, 1973; Simon & Feather, 1973). After a very thorough review of the literature, Frieze, Whitley, Hanusa, and McHugh reach a similar conclusion in the introductory article of this issue. 1The data presented here are based on a larger research project on reinforcement contin- gencies and performance attributions supported by a research grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. 2 Correspondence should be sent to Dr. Paul T. P. Wong, Department of Psychology, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada K9J 7B8. 381 0360-0025/82/0400-0381503.00/0 © 1982 Plenum Publishing Corporation