Realistic job expectations predict academic achievement

Individual differences in realistic job expectations - the degree to which realistic expectations about prospective education and job are held - were introduced as a potential predictor of academic achievement. Students in teacher education (N = 176) completed a test battery for college admission consisting of general mental ability, reactions to stress and coping with stress, and a structured interview assessing individual differences in realistic job expectations. Grade point averages of the entire three-year long bachelor's degree and students' bachelor thesis grades served as criterion variables. Grade point averages were calculated separately for courses fostering declarative and procedural knowledge. Declarative knowledge and students' bachelor thesis grades were predicted by individual differences in general mental ability, and realistic job expectations. Contrary, procedural knowledge was predicted by individual differences in reactions to stress and coping with stress, and realistic job expectations. The current study is the first to show this predictive utility of realistic job expectations.