Worry, Optimism, and Expectations as Predictors of Anxiety and Performance in the First Year of Law School

Research suggests that worry, optimism, and expectations have subsequent effects on performance, which may be mediated through self-efficacy expectations. The first year of law school provides a unique naturalistic setting in which to study this process. Participants were recruited at orientation and assessed at five points during their first year of law school. Results indicated that worry was significantly related to self-efficacy and anxiety. Controlling for trait anxiety, higher levels of worry were also predictive of better academic performance. Expectations were positively related to class rank and performance on a final exam, and predicted first year law school grade-point average (GPA) even after controlling for undergraduate GPA and Law School Admissions Test score. Optimism was inversely related to both dispositional and state anxiety, although it was not related to performance. Implications of these findings for counseling first-year law students are discussed, and the results may generalize to other professional situations.