The present study explores the most common causes given by high school stud
ents to explain their actual academic performance. The theoretical backgrou
nd is based upon Weiner and Osgood's formulations. Brazilian (N = 492), Arg
entinean (N = 541), and Mexican (N = 561) students in the last three years
of secondary school in private and public institutions were studied. His or
her own math and social science teacher according to school achievement se
lected each student. The students were asked to rate the importance of ten
typical causes of academic success and to complete a differential semantic
adaptation integrated by three concept-stimulus (stability, controllability
and externality dimensions) and these specific causes. Students from all t
hree countries considered their effort, their capacity to study, and their
intelligence as the most important causes of school achievement. Concerning
the dimensional meaning of specific causes, results indicated that success
ful students, either Argentinean, Brazilian or Mexican agree in perceiving
effort, intelligence and study ability as internal and stable causes, but o
nly Brazilian and Mexican students consider mood as an internal stable caus
e. Test difficulty, family support and teachers' judgment were evaluated as
uncontrollable causes by Argentinean and Brazilian students but not by Mex
ican ones. When considering failure, singular-answering schemes emerged. Th
e findings were discussed in terms of socio-cultural values and educational
peculiarities of these Latin American countries.