Is 导致 or 促使 better in 自负和冲动 [导致 / 促使] 了他的失败 ("arrogance and impulsion contributed to his failure")? If we are to translate "contributed to" in "someone's arrogance and impulsion contributed to his failure," should I use 导致 or 促使?


  张三的自负和冲动导致/促使了他的失败。
导 (lead) ; 致 (reach)


  导致 = (lead to) cause 


促 (induce); 使 (make)


  促使 = (induce and make) to push


~


  "someone's arrogance and impulsion contributed to his failure"


'contributed' means 'helped' -- '导致 (lead to)' and "促使 (push)" are two different form of 'helping' something to happen, therefore, 导致 or 促使 are both acceptable in "张三的自负和冲动导致/促使了他的失败。" 

If you want a strict word to word translation, you can use '作出贡献', but '贡献' in Chinese only denote contribution to 'positive result' For example: "对社会作出贡献" (contribute to society); but you cannot say "对失败作出贡献" (contribute to failure) unless this negative result is a good thing, for example: "對纳粹滅亡作出贡献" (contributed to the destruction of the Nazis)

导致 and 促使 doesn't have this problem, they can be used to describe contribution to 'positive or negative result'