LAW-SCHOOL PERFORMANCE PREDICTED BY EXPLANATORY STYLE

The explanatory styles of 387 law students were assessed prior to law school using the Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ). Longitudinal performance measures were collected throughout law school and related to each student's initial explanatory style. In contrast to studies w ith undergraduates, students who made stable, global, and internal att ributions for negative events combined with the converse attributions for success (typically called pessimists) outperformed more optimistic students on measures of grade point averages and law journal success. We discuss the limitations of current attributional research methodol ogies and suggest the prudent and cautious perspective necessary for l aw or skill-based professions may account for our findings. (C) 1997 b y John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.