Characteristics of heads of 1,249 poor families in rural areas of the Mississippi Delta region who had high potential for breaking out of poverty were determined in this study. Potential for moving out of poverty was measured by degree of expressed willingness of a household head to take action for positive change in his circumstances. Such persons tended to be found in the younger age groups, married, with smaller households, Negro, and with a comparatively higher level of education. An assumption that low rates of social participation and high rates of fatalism were related to propensity for change was not supported. Nonparticipation of the rural poor in programs available to them was found to be frequent. Another major problem was in the formation of training and job opportunities appropriate to the requirements and dispositions of the people in the Delta. (BD)