"Levels of aspiration were obtained from 168 under-graduates who were about to take examinations in college courses. Some Ss were asked for expectations, others for goals . . … Partial correlations between aspirations and examination grades were computed, with past level of attainment held constant. Results were as follows: 1. In the present group of Ss, no correlation between aspiration and achievement existed, when past level of achievement was partialled out. 2. This lack of relationship was equally true whether aspirations were obtained in terms of goals or expectations, and whether the examinations were in psychology or in physics. 3. Evidence from written comments made by part of one group of Ss indicates that the more aspirations diverge from realistic predictions, the more defensive the behavior of the S becomes. 4. D-scores based on goals were significantly larger than D-scores based upon expectations; D-scores of the male and of the female students also differed significantly. Results were reconciled with other experimental findings in terms of a hypothetical curvilinear relation between degree of ego-involvement and the degree of correlation between aspiration and achievement." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)