locus of control or self-esteem; which one is the best predictor of academic achievement in iranian college students

Background: self-esteem and behavioral consequences, which are due to external or internal locus of control, are effective on academic achievement of students. objectives: the aim of this study was to determine the prediction of locus of control and self-esteem in academic achievement among the students. materials and methods: this cross-sectional study was conducted on 300 college students in kermanshah university of medical sciences in 2014. data collection tools were in three sections: demographic, rotter internal-external locus of control scale and coopersmith self-esteem inventory. data were analyzed using the spss software version 21. results: results showed that 29.8% and 76.2% of the participants had internal locus of control, and high self-esteem, respectively. there was a significant correlation between self-esteem, locus of control and academic achievement of the students. self-esteem accounted for 39.5% of the variation in academic achievement. conclusions: it seems that interventions to increase self-esteem among student can help improve academic achievement among them.