Abstract
To assess the effects of personal beliefs and information availability on judgments of academic success, 86 college students either predicted before an examination or estimated after the examination the grade they would receive. Consistent with hypotheses, students with high self-esteem and high school self-esteem on the Coopersmith Self-esteem Inventory predicted higher grades compared to their prior grade average in the course than did students with low self-esteem. There were no differences for estimates. Contrary to hypothesis, the same results were obtained for students with high need for approval on the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Also contrary to hypothesis, students with external locus of control on the Rotter Locus of Control Scale were more accurate than internals in estimating their grades.
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