We aimed at inferring psychosocial causes of success and failure among students. We assumed that there are anticipatory representations based on instrumental actions and others, based on results. We interviewed 30 former students of university admission courses for low income people in the countryside of the state of Rio de Janeiro. The questions dealt with the course's contributions to their learning, its positive and negative aspects; self-evaluation of their lives currently and in the future. We found two representational models: well-succeeded students centered in action and unsuccessful students centered in results. Additionally, we noticed the formation of a group dynamic in which the well-succeeded conveyed unfavorable contents about "student as group" and favorable ones about "teacher", and the unsuccessful students tended to withdraw from these relationships. Therefore, we propose the creation of reflection groups to boost both the internal individual and the external social relationships.
Social representations; University admission courses for low income students; Interpersonal relationship
