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Path analysis was used to test the influence of writing self-efficacy, self-concept, apprehension, and aptitude on the essay-writing performance of 181 ninth-grade students in a public high school in the southwestern United States. A model that also included gender accounted for 53 % of the variance in performance. As hypothesized, both aptitude and students ' own confidence had strong direct effects on performance. Aptitude also had a strong direct effect on self-efficacy, which largely mediated the indirect effect of aptitude on performance. Self-efficacy had a strong direct effect on apprehension, which, in turn, had a weak direct effect on performance. Although girls and boys did not diter in aptitude or performance, girls expressed less confidence in th,l-ir writing. Additionally, Hispanic students had lower performance scores as well as lower levels of confidence and self-concept and highe