Abstract

A previous study (D’Zurilla, T. J. & Sheedy, C. F. (1992). The relation between social problem-solving ability and subsequent level of academic competence in college students. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 16, 589–599) has shown that social problem-solving ability significantly predicts academic performance in college students after accounting for their academic aptitude. In this study we use a recently proposed five-dimensional model of social problem solving to investigate which social problem solving dimension is responsible for this effect. To further assess the cross-cultural validity of previous findings, our study was performed in a different educational system (that of Spain). Also, we used a measure of previous academic achievement instead of one of academic aptitude. Despite these differences, our results are remarkably similar to previous ones. Furthermore, we found that the dimension responsible for this relationship was impulsive/careless problem-solving. This establishes some interesting links between social problem solving theory and existing research on impulsivity as predictors of GPA.