Apply attributional retraining to success as well as failure

Attribute genuine successes to stable, internal, and global factors — not to luck or circumstance alone.

Why it works

Attributional retraining is typically discussed in terms of failure, but the same logic applies in reverse to success: attributing genuine success to unstable, external, or specific causes ("I just got lucky," "anyone could have done that") prevents the success from updating the self-concept and self-efficacy. When successes are explained by stable, internal, and specific-but-recurring causes — skill, preparation, characteristic approach — they build an accurate and durable positive self-concept rather than a fragile one.

How to do it

1. After a genuine success, write the explanation that first comes to mind.
2. If it is heavily external or luck-based, apply the same three-dimension analysis: what was internal, stable, and specific-but-recurring about what you brought to this?
3. Write a sentence that gives yourself honest credit for the stable, internal contribution.
4. Note: this is about accuracy, not self-promotion — only claim what you actually contributed.

Evidence

Self-serving attribution bias research shows people often attribute success externally more than warranted; for low self-esteem and impostor-prone individuals the bias runs the other way. Weiner’s model predicts that internal, stable success attributions produce pride and expectation of future success. (observational)

The bidirectional application of attribution retraining is principled; research focus has been heavier on failure attribution than on success attribution, particularly in intervention studies.

Sources

• Weiner (1985), "An attributional theory of achievement motivation and emotion", Psychological Review

Common mistake

Claiming success attributions that are not warranted — inflated internal-stable attributions for success produce arrogance and inaccurate self-assessment, which is different from honest credit.