Social psychological theories of self-worth protection may contribute important insights for understanding "laddish" behavior (first used to refer to white, working-class and anti-school boys), and self-worth theory may have important implications for strategies designed to increase boys' academic achievement. Outlines Covington's theory of self-worth protection, linking this theory to observations from research on the differences between secondary school girls' and boys' educational achievement and aspects of masculinity theory. (Contains references.) (SM)