Academic achievement in males is quite consistently predictable from locus of control scores, although this is not true for females. Reasons suggested for this apparent inconsistency include the use of externality as a shield against failure, the instruments used and a "fear of success" in women. Several studies with college and elementary school…

Contradictory predictions concerning control over negative events exist in Walster's self-protective attribution theory which maintains that on-lookers in negative situations are apt to seek control by convincing themselves that such a situation couldn't happen to them, while Shaver's defensive attribution theory suggests that in a comparable…

The study examined the antecedents and correlates of general life satisfaction as reported by 108 gifted and talented young women. Results of the six-year longitudinal analyses supported the predicted centrality of instrumental self perception to social self esteem, occupational confidence, and general life satisfaction. (Author/DB)