Primary Interests:
- Causal Attribution
- Helping, Prosocial Behavior
- Person Perception
- Social Cognition
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Research Group or Laboratory:
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Social Cognition Laboratory
Interactive Map
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N.C. Higgins
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Professor Higgins' research interests are in attribution theory and person perception. Dr. Higgins investigates attributional styles in person perception and in self-perception, and the role of those styles in social, health, and achievement behavior. Measurement issues in attributional style research are an ongoing focus. Reactions of observers to those in chronic pain is an applied research focus. Dr. Higgins is also examining memory effects in spontaneous causal inferences.
Journal Articles:
- Davison, A. J., & Higgins, N. C. (1993). Observer bias in perceptions of responsibility [Commentary]. American Psychologist, 48, 585.
- Higgins, N. C., & Bhatt, G. (2001). Culture moderates the self-serving bias: Etic and emic features of causal attributions in India and in Canada. Social Behavior and Personality, 29(1), 49-62.
- Higgins, N. C., & Hay, J. A. (2003). Attributional style predicts causes of negative life events on the Attributional Style Questionnaire. Journal of Social Psychology, 143(2), 253-271.
- Higgins, N. C., & Morrison, M. (1998). Construct validity of unsupportive attributional style: The impact of life outcome controllability. Social Indicators Research: An International Journal for Quality of Life Measurement. Special Issue on Validity of Quality of Life Measures, 45, 319-342.
- Higgins, N. C., & Shaw, J. K. (1999). Attributional style moderates the impact of causal controllability information on helping behaviour. Social Behavior and Personality, 27(3), 221-236.
- Higgins, N. C., St. Amand, M. D., & Poole, G. A. (1997). The controllability of negative life experiences mediates unrealistic optimism. Social Indicators Research: An International Journal for Quality of Life Measurement, 42, 299-323.
- Higgins, N. C., Zumbo, B. D., & Hay, J. (1999). Construct validity of attributional style: Modeling context-dependent item sets in the Attributional Style Questionnaire. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 59, 804-820.
- Le Foll, D., Rascle, O., & Higgins, N. C. (2008). Attributional feedback-induced changes in functional and dysfunctional attributions, expectations of success, hopefulness, and short-term persistence in a novel sport. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 9, 77-101.
- Le Foll, D., Rascle, O., & Higgins, N. C. (2006). Persistence in a putting task during perceived failure: Influence of state-attributions and attributional style. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 55, 586-605.
- Lundquist, L. M., Higgins, N. C., & Prkachin, K. M. (2002). Accurate pain detection is not enough: Contextual and attributional style biasing factors in patient evaluations and treatment choice. Journal of Applied Social Psychology: Biobehavioral Research, 7(2), 114-132.
- Rascle, O., Le Foll, D., & Higgins, N. C. (2008). Attributional retraining alters novice golfers’ free practice behavior. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 20(2), 157-164.
Other Publications:
- Higgins, N. C., LaChapelle, D., Harman, K., & Hadjistavropoulos, T. (in progress). Implicit theories of pain predict coping styles and pain expressiveness.
- Higgins, N. C., & LaPointe, M. (in progress). Academic attributional style predicts behavioral persistence under failure: Factor structure, reliability, and predictive validity of the Academic Attributional Style Questionnaire.
- Higgins, N. C., Randall, H. A., & Almond, R. J. (in progress). Occupational burnout: Does attributional style predict caregiver risk?
- Higgins, N. C., & Zumbo, B. D. (in progress). An individual differences measure of attributions that affect helping behavior: Factor structure and predictive validity of the Reasons for Misfortune Questionnaire.
Courses Taught:
- Motivation and Emotion
- Research Methods
- Social Psychology
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N.C. Higgins
Department of Psychology
St. Thomas University
Fredericton, NB E3B 5G3
Canada
Phone: (506) 452-0415
Fax: (506) 450-9615