Reactions of men and women to failure in sex-appropriate and sex-inappropriate tasks were examined through performance records, self-ratings of learning progress, and attributions of performance to effort and ability. Fear of success studies show that individuals may avoid success where success is sex-inappropriate. It was thought that failure might not be so bad if the task was sex-innappropriate anyway. Results show this. Both men and women suffered less impairment in actual performance after failure feedback when they thought their task was sex-inappropriate. However, only women absorbed the failure message, as indicated by self-ratings of progress in learning. The sex difference is examined in terms of sex-differentiated use of the attribution process. (Author)