This study tests hypotheses about achievement orientation, particularly vicarious achievement. Undergraduate students (N=437) completed multiple-choice questionnaires, indicating likely responses of one person to the success of another. The sex of succeeder and observer, closeness of relationship, and setting (medical school or graduate school of education) were varied. It was found that more vicarious achievement responses were generated by close relationships. Male and female subjects selected vicarious responses with the same frequency, but both ascribed more vicariousness to females. Competitive responses were more frequent in the medical school setting than in the education school. (Author)