The study reconceptualized the construct anticipatory goal deflection and recast it as anticipatory success. Previous theoretical and empirical work was reviewed and a recursive model developed based on 8 hypotheses involving aggregate measures of socioeconomic origin index as an exogenous variable, achievement motivation, and anticipatory occupational success as the ultimate dependent variable. The conceptual model was empirically tested using a sample of black and white, male and female high school seniors from Louisiana in the winter of 1969 (1,070 white females, 332 black females, 1,087 white males, and 226 black males). Stratification was imposed by school size (large-small), school type (public-parochial), residential location (rural-urban), and race (black-white). Analysis results indicated the hypothesis critical to the model was generally supported for the total sample, race, sex and race by sex subsamples. A notable exception to this was the finding that socioeconomic origins do not predict achievement motivation. The findings suggested that concept anticipatory success and the models were sufficiently promising to warrant further research but conclusions as to the validity and generalizability of either must be held in abeyance pending future research. (Author/KM)