University Students’ Fear of Success from the Perspective of Positive Psychology

摘要

The aim of this study was to examine university students’ fear of success from the perspective of positive psychology. Two objectives were addressed: first, analysing the relation between fear of success, optimism, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and search for meaning in life; second, exploring the variance of the fear of success, taking into account the affective dimension of the self (self-esteem) and search for meaning in life. The results confirmed that fear of success was positively related to search for meaning, and negatively to optimism, self-esteem, and self-efficacy. The variance of the fear of success was explained by the self-esteem and search for meaning in life. Implications for school psychologists were discussed.