The objective of this study was to examine the patients' perception of the causes of their success and lack of success in achieving their potential in rehabilitation and their emotional reactions to the outcome of their rehabilitation. Thirty-five patients with spinal cord injury who were participating in the Rehabilitation Program at Hamilton Health Sciences completed a questionnaire pertaining to their (a) perception of the outcome of their rehabilitation, (b) causal explanations for the outcome, and (c) emotional reactions following the outcome. The results indicate that the patients who achieved their potential in rehabilitation (the successful group) attributed their success primarily to "psychological causes". The patients who did not achieve their potential in rehabilitation (the unsuccessful group) attributed their lack of success to "medical and treatment-related causes", causes that they perceived as being variable over time. With the exception of the emotion of "disappointment", the two groups did not differ in their emotional reactions to the outcome of their rehabilitation. In conclusion, the patients who achieved their potential in rehabilitation attributed their success to causes that enhanced their self-esteem (they did not feel that they depended on others for their success). The patients who did not achieve their potential in rehabilitation attributed their lack of success to causes that they perceived as being changeable over time; this allowed them to expect that they will achieve their potential at a later time. Causal explanations for rehabilitation outcomes have implications for the motivation of persons with spinal cord injury to achieve their potential in rehabilitation.