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RESEARCH PRODUCT

The role of success expectation and task-avoidance in academic performance and satisfaction: Three studies on antecedents, consequences and correlates

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Abstract To investigate the prospective relationships between individuals’ success expectation and task-avoidance, and their academic achievement and satisfaction, 231 students were examined yearly throughout their university careers in Study 1. It was found that students’ success expectation predicted academic achievement and satisfaction; which, in turn, increased their subsequent success expectation. Moreover, task-avoidance predicted low academic achievement and dissatisfaction, which again was predictive of subsequent task-avoidance. In Study 2, the task-avoidant behavior, and pre-examination anxiety, of 198 students who had participated in Study 1 were examined, and compared with their subsequent grades. Students’ dispositional task-avoidance predicted their grades only to the extent to which it was reflected in their task-avoidant behavior. In Study 3, 249 students were investigated to determine their achievement beliefs and strategies, causal attributions, and academic achievement. Students who reported a high level of task-avoidance frequently also referred to a lack of effort after failure, whereas students who reported success expectation often mentioned their abilities as a reason for their success.