Attribution Theory

 Attribution theory offers a valuable framework for understanding Daisy Jones's emotional and motivational shifts throughout her career and self-discovery journey. Some of the notable theorists within this perspective are Weiner, Graham, and Dweck and Yeager, who each focus on different elements of the theory. According to Weiner (1985), individuals are naturally inclined to seek understanding for why things in their lives happen, especially their successes and failures. Graham (2020) emphasizes that people attribute these outcomes to causal factors that can be internal or external, stable or unstable, and controllable or uncontrollable, all of which shape their emotional responses and future motivations. Similarly, Dweck and Yeager (2020) examine how a person’s perception of control over outcomes impacts their willingness to approach or avoid difficult challenges. Each of these perspectives helps explain the emotional patterns manifested in Daisy’s behavior.

It is clear that Daisy's attributions were primarily aligned with internal, mostly stable, and controllable factors. She viewed her success as a result of her own effort, the care she invested in her music-making process, and the authenticity of her natural talent. These attributions made it easy for Daisy to feel motivated toward achieving her goals and contributed to her continued growth with each affirming performance and number-one hit. However, with more fame came more doubt as well. As she began gaining popularity and public attention, there was a noticeable shift in the control she felt over the causes of her success.

For instance, when Daisy and the band were featured on the cover of Rolling Stone, a huge accomplishment for such a young group, she couldn't see beyond the public scrutiny and emotional rejection from Billy reflected in the article. She could not make sense of the backlash she received from someone with whom she felt such deep vulnerability and connection, both in songwriting and in her personal need for belonging. This made her perception of success more external and uncontrollable, as she was unable to manage others’ opinions or the unpredictable dynamics of fame that influenced the outcomes she desired.

Her ultimate goal had always been the same: to feel connected to others through sharing her music, an extension of herself. But the more people began to consume and “appreciate” her music, the more isolated and unloved she felt. This created a painful conflict between her ambition and her identity, gradually eroding her motivation. In fact, she disappeared for a month after one show because she was unable to face the emotional distress it caused her. This moment marks a key shift, as her once bold and confrontational personality that was a central part of the narrative she built early in her career, that gave way to emotional withdrawal and instability.

In reconciling her attributions, Daisy’s initial motivation stemmed from the quantifiable nature of fame. Being able to see her songs on the charts and receive recognition and validation from others fueled her self-worth and boosted her motivation to achieve what she believed would bring lasting fulfillment. She believed that her success would automatically make her happy, but it did not and she struggled to understand why. As her career progressed, she began to question how she defined success and realized that her true desires were to be happy and at peace, feelings that proved to be less controllable and more unstable than fame. This marked a significant cognitive turning point in her life; fame, which once felt internal and controllable became external and unpredictable, while the deeper fulfillment she sought through belonging and self-understanding was internal yet unstable.

In the long term, her pattern of attributions led to decreased motivation and emotional exhaustion. She could no longer rely on external validation to sustain her and had to develop new strategies to strengthen her internal stability. This exemplifies the complexity of attributional change and the shifts that occur as people’s ideas of success evolve.