This study examines whether behaviorally withdrawn children differ from aggressive and prosocial children in their attributional styles, social goals, and self-efficacy perceptions. Fourth and fifth-grade students (n=506) responded to a set of hypothetical situations involving ambiguous provocation. Specifically, they interpreted the protagonist's intent, rated their social goals for the situations, and judged their self-efficacy in accomplishing these goals. Peer evaluations of children's withdrawn, aggressive, and prosocial behavior were also obtained in order to classify children as withdrawn, aggressive, or prosocial. Results showed that behaviorally withdrawn children were strikingly similar to the prosocial children on the social-cognitive variables investigated, but differed significantly from the aggressive children. Compared with the aggressive children, the withdrawn children were less likely to attribute hostile intentions to the protagonist. In addition, withdrawn children rated problem-solving and relationship-oriented goals higher and reported that they would be relatively skilled at fulfilling these goals. Furthermore, withdrawn children gave lower ratings to the goals and self-efficacy perceptions concerning retaliation. The results suggest that despite their withdrawn behavioral style, children who are typically inhibited among their peers have a social-cognitive profile that is quite prosocial. The implications of these findings for interventions for behaviorally withdrawn children are discussed. (Contains 11 references and 8 figures). (Author)