The study develops a model to explain the complex interactions which link the demands for academic achievement in the schools with the personal development of the learner on the premise that students develop a set of affective traits concommitantly with a pattern of academic accomplishments. The theoretical framework upon which the study is based is Robert White's (1959) theory of effectance motivation. The school is the milieu where important competencies and affective traits are developed; if the student successfully meets the demands of the school, he begins a healthy adjustment to society. The study was conducted in three schools in a middle-class neighborhood; students from second, fourth, sixth, and eighth grades were selected. Dealing with the three affective variables of self-esteem, self-concept of ability, and locus of control in the academic setting, the study explores the impact of successful and unsuccessful achievement over time on affective traits, the influence of the home on the relationships between academic achievement and affective traits, and the impact of perceived social roles on that relationship. (Author/SES)