According to the major attributional hypotheses, egotism and expectancy confirmation, people tend to make internal attributions when successful and external attributions when they fail. In order to investigate the effect of manipulation on egotistical and expectancy confirmation attributions, 190 female undergraduates participated in two series of card sorting tasks. Outcomes, bases of expectancies, and levels of expectations were manipulated for some participants (N=80). Subjects sorted two series of 30 cards, containing a number which varied in length from one to three digits. After each 5 minute card sort task, subjects rated on a 7-point scale, the extent to which ability and task difficulty were seen as the causes of the outcomes. An analysis of the results partially supported the egotism hypothesis in that attributions were determined by task outcomes rather than expectancy confirmation. However, subjects attributed success to both internal (ability and effort) and external (task difficulty) factors. The manipulation had some effects on external but not on internal attribution. Future research should rule out sex, nature of the task, and subjects' locus of control as influencing variables. (Tables of specific factor analysis are appended.) (BL)