Success may be conceptualized within five major domains: academic, aesthetic, social, physical, and moral. The five domains may be further considered either within an individual or a societal dimension, depending on which party principally benefits. Finally, success can be further subdivided into two models; one being competitive, which is termed "zero-sum," and one noncompetitive, termed "additive." An example of the zero-sum model is the attainment of a place in a professional school (e.g., medical school), where success for one individual entails failure for another. An example of the additive model is the successful playing of a musical instrument, where the success for one person implies no loss for another. Every domain can be subdivided into four, varying by dimension, individual or societal, and by zero-sum or additive model. Most research tends to be in the academic and social domains, and is concerned with individual benefits according to zero-sum assumptions. Thus, although school effectiveness studies are concerned nominally with academic achievement, interest in that achievement is predicated on its relationship with success in postsecondary institutions, and, ultimately, with future social status, employment, and income. There is little research on the persistence of academic gains in later life. Research is particularly abundant on the relationship between success in school and success in postsecondary institutions and employment. Aesthetic, moral, and physical success are not widely researched. (Author/BZ)