The Reliability and Construct Validity of the Multidimensional-Multiattributional Causality Scale

The reliability and factorial validity of the Multidimensional-Multiattributional Causality Scale (MMCS) was examined for 350 community college students in a large, urban, multi-campus system. A principal components analysis of the intercorrelation matrix of the 24 item responses indicated seven interpretable factors. The attributions of ability, effort, context, and luck emerged as well as distinctions between attributions related to academic success or failure. Generally, the evidence supported the factorial validity of the MMCS. Several limitations of the scale are noted.