Abstract
Experts can help others accelerate their development by sharing knowledge and providing feedback, and hence, learners often turn to them for guidance. Given the tendency to underestimate the enormous dedication and hard work required to become an expert, we investigate how attributing experts’ mastery to their natural ability or their hard work impacts learners’ motivation and performance. Across archival evidence from the teaching-evaluation database “Rate My Professors,” a pre-registered experiment, meta-analyses of 12 additional replication studies, and four supplementary studies, we find that learners who attribute the expertise of their instructors mainly to effort, rather than to natural talent, report higher self-efficacy, more appreciation for hard work over natural talent, and attain improved learning outcomes. Our research contributes to the stream of social comparison theory untangling when higher achievers are inspiring or demotivating, and to the attribution theory of achievement motivation, by underscoring the relevance of interpersonal attributions of natural ability and effort. It also suggests that interpersonal attributions may influence the development of mindsets about ability. Despite the admiration that naturals may prompt, strivers may serve as more inspirational figures, enabling learners to truly thrive.

Nuria Tolsá-Caballero is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Kelley School of Business, Indiana University. She was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan until August 2024. She holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from UCL, School of Management, London, UK, a Master of International Affairs, International Finance and Economic Policy from the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, an LL.M. in Tax Consultancy and Management from ESADE Law School, Ramon Llull University, and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the School of Economics and Management, University of Navarre. Her research interests focus on leadership, human connections, motivation, social comparisons, attributions, decision-making, and performance. Additionally, she has secondary interests in public policy and international development.