Clarity

On the application object. I have an attribute called "lifecycle". The lifecyle attribute only appears on an administration subpage that is restricted to specific users (view and edit subpage rights). When displaying this lifecycle attribute on the application list, the values are not displayed (blank). When I grant the view subpage's right to the user he can then see the lifecycle attribute on the application list. 

Please correct me if I'm wrong:

I should be able to view the lifecyle attribute anywhere else if displayed

Question:

What could be causing this?

The way this works is controlled by the "Attribute Value Protection" setting on the options against the Project-List view.

the three options are

• Use display conditions and secured subpages to protect attribute values on this list
• Use only secured subpages to protect attribute values on this list
• Display all attribute values on this list

You are describing behaviour of the first option.

There are (obviously) implications of selecting different options ; you should understand those before making any changes.