Gill, D. L. (1980). Success-failure attributions in competitive groups: An exception to egocentrism. Journal of Sport Psychology, 2, 106-114.

When in teams, the reaction of individuals to success or failure is slightly different to when they perform alone. Members of winning teams attributed their success to their own team whereas members of losing teams attributed the loss to their opponents. This occurred for both males and females.

Within-team attributes however, were unusual. Members of winning teams assigned primary responsibility to their teammates while losing team members accepted primary responsibility for the loss themselves. This suggests two strategies for handling winning and losing team situations.

1. After winning, in a team-meeting atmosphere, single-out each player and comment on something that was done well in the contest.
2. After losing, in a team-meeting atmosphere, single-out each player and comment on something done well in the contest but also add something which is possible to be improved upon. The item for improvement should be an activity over which the athlete has control and, as well, most probably should be a skill.

Implication. The content of after game team appraisals should differ depending upon whether the contest was won or lost. In both situations individual praise for well-performed elements are necessary, but after losing an addition of constructive criticism about self-controlled skill elements should be added.

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