Students face frequent formal and informal tests, both in the academic context and social life. On each of these occasions, they risk falling short of their own or others' expectations. Facing failure is a psychological challenge, and people can react with defensive strategies, which may have negative consequences. Here we investigated the role of…

Co-curricular activities have been shown to impact many measures of academic success, such as academic self-confidence, leadership abilities, identity development, personal development, and student thriving. Borrowing from established research paradigms on pluralistic ignorance, the current study sought to explore whether first-year and senior…

The last half century has seen a dramatic expansion in access to primary, secondary, and higher education in many nations around the world. Educational expansion is desirable for a country's economy, beneficial for educated individuals themselves, and is also a strategy for greater social harmony. But has greater access to education reduced or…

There are a number of apparent similarities between dropouts and academic achievers: both groups have been described as alienated and impulsive, and both can be difficult counselees because they reject some traditional values. This investigation focused on the behaviors and attitudes of a group of 23 male college sophomores who were academic…

This article reports on the characteristics of students classified as being over or underachievers. The concepts of over and underachievement are most frequently defined in terms that relate to expectations based on ability measures. During the past 30 years there have been attempts to isolate the causal determinants of achievement. Variables such…

Provides additional evidence concerning the efficiency of Edward's need achievement scale as a supplement to standard tests of academic aptitude in predicting academic achievement and to discriminate between over- and under-achievers. Also examines an alternative to overall GPA as the criterion for studies of academic achievement. (RC)

In this study the responses of 30 colleges seniors who over-achieved in terms of predicted grade point average (GPA), were compared with those made by 38 high ability under-achievers. Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores and GPA's were compared with those for two groups of students performing as predicted. Over-achievers were found to be…

Like other Indigenous populations worldwide, China's ethnic minorities have faced considerable obstacles to acquiring education. At higher levels of education, minority students have far lower enrollment rates and far higher dropout rates than Han majority students. This is particularly true at the point of college admittance, since only 2 percent…

A study investigated the academic achievement of 390 students in a freshman seminar designed to enhance academic success of three risk groups (underachievers, overachievers, and low achievers). The populations responded to seminar content in distinct ways. Comparison with a control group showed the only gain was in retention of low achievers.…