Validation of three measures of fear of success

Three new instruments designed to measure fear of success are the Horner, Tresemer, Berens, and Watson empirically derived fantasy-based scoring system, the Pappo Fear of Success Questionnaire (FOS) and the Zuckerman and Allison Fear of Success Scale (FOSS). In the absence of evidence that scores on these instruments are positively correlated or that the instruments do not measure fear of failure, correlations were calculated between these three instruments and between these instruments and the Alpert-Haber Debilitating Anxiety Scale (DAS). It was found that only the FOS and FOSS fear of success instruments were correlated positively and significantly. However, all three fear of success instruments were correlated positively at a significant level with the DAS.     

Fear of failure and fear of success

Verbal leads were used to elicit TAT responses from 160 male and female high school seniors, under neutral and aroused conditions. These protocols were scored for fear of success (FOS) according to the 1973 revised scoring system developed by Horner, Tresemer, Berens, and Watson (Note 1) and also scored for fear of failure (FOF) according to the Hostile Press Scoring System developed by Birney, Burdick, and Teevan (1969). Significant positive correlations between the two motive scores were obtained under both neutral and aroused conditions. The lack of independence between the FOS and FOF scores reflects theoretical similarities in the definitions of the motives, as well as considerable overlap in the scoring systems. It was hypothesized that for those people (especially women) whose affiliative and achievement needs are interrelated, FOF and FOS may be nearly equivalent, since fear of social rejection thus becomes tantamount to fear of failure.     

Comparing continuous and dichotomous scoring of the balanced inventory of desirable responding

The Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR; Paulhus, 1994) is a widely used instrument to measure the 2 components of social desirability: self-deceptive enhancement and impression management. With respect to scoring of the BIDR, Paulhus (1994) authorized 2 methods, namely continuous scoring (all answers on the continuous answer scale are counted) and dichotomous scoring (only extreme answers are counted). In this article, we report 3 studies with student samples, and continuous and dichotomous scoring of BIDR subscales are compared with respect to reliability, convergent validity, sensitivity to instructional variations, and correlations with personality. Across studies, the scores from continuous scoring (continuous scores) showed higher Cronbach's alphas than those from dichotomous scoring (dichotomous scores). Moreover, continuous scores showed higher convergent correlations with other measures of social desirability and more consistent effects with self-presentation instructions (fake-good vs. fake-bad instructions). Finally, continuous self-deceptive enhancement scores showed higher correlations with those traits of the Five-factor model for which substantial correlations were expected (i.e., Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness). Consequently, these findings indicate that continuous scoring may be preferable to dichotomous scoring when assessing socially desirable responding with the BIDR.     

Self-monitoring and Sex As Related to Assessment Center Rating and Job Performance

Snyder's Self-Monitoring Test was included in a 1-day assessment center for computer salespersons. It was predicted that self-monitoring would be related to success at the assessment center (where impression management is crucial for employment) and to success in the boundary-spanning role of computer sales. The relationships with self-monitoring were predicted to be stronger for women than for men because these computer sales jobs have been less traditional for women than for men. Results indicate that there were significant correlations between self-monitoring scores and the overall assessment rating only for women. Furthermore, self-monitoring was significantly related to job retention after 1 year only for women, but self-monitoring scores predicted job retention as well as did the assessment center ratings for both men and women. It was suggested that impression management ability (self-monitoring) is more strongly related to job auditions and job retention when the role is nontraditional to gender.     

Effects of wrist rest and forearm support on muscle activity

This study examined the effects of wrist rest and forearm support on reducing computer operators' activities using the trapezius, deltoid, biceps brachii, extensor carpi radialis longus, and extensor digitorum. 12 young (M= 25.9 yr., SD= 2.4) men were asked to perform both static and dynamic mouse operations in four conditions, two using a wrist rest and two using a forearm support. Analysis showed that use of the forearm support had a significant effect on reducing the EMG activity in muscles of the trapezius, deltoid, biceps brachii, extensor carpi radialis longus, and extensor digitorum. However, the wrist rest only significantly reduced deltoid and extensor carpi radialis longus activities.     

Fear of Success in Black Male and Female Graduate Students: A Pilot Study

In accordance with Horner's (1969) assumption that the intensity of fear of success arousal increases with the subject's success potential, graduate students from a prestigious university were chosen for a pilot investigation of the motive to avoid success in black men and women. Thirty-five subjects (14 female; 21 male) received a verbal TAT and a 54-item sex role questionnaire designed for purposes of this investigation. Fear of success was scored according to the new, experimentally derived scoring system for this motive. Contrary to expectation, the results did not indicate any evidence of success avoidance in either sex. However, fear of success in females was clearly associated with striving to develop career interests compatible with their strong commitment to home and husband, while among similarly motivated males it was suggested that the pragmatic career orientation observed was the product of compensatory motivational dynamics. It was concluded that these subjects were motivated to avoid what are perceived to be role-inappropriate behaviors while conforming to socially accepted values internalized in earlier years.     

Avoidance learning in a social situation- extinction resistance and defense reaction under stress. A pilot study

Two successive experiments were conducted resulting from observations of the stability (resistance to extinction) of avoidance reactions and the manifestation of such reactions beyond the specific avoidance conditions in which they were acquired: a) 15 subjects were set the task to avoid an aversive acoustic stimulus for a helpless experimental partner. They could achieve this by reacting with contraction of either the forearm or the calf muscles in a difficult discrimination task. The stability of these avoidance reactions was assessed on different levels of forced extinction. Measures taken were HR, GSR and EMG of the avoidance reactions. Specific courses of the two autonomous measures evolved (Fig. 1,2). 14 of the 15 experimental subjects showed the avoidance behaviour during all phases of forced extinction. b) Six weeks after the experimental subjects had acquired the motor avoidance reactions all subjects were exposed to a relatively unspecific stress situation. Comparisons between experimental and control group (which consisted of the experimental partners) showed a tendency but not a significant difference as far as the reaction of the calf muscles was concerned. Contraction of the forearm muscles, however, occurred significantly more often in the experimental group. The subjects executed these reactions without being aware of it.     

The Cross‐cultural Transportability of Situational Judgment Tests: How does a US‐based integrity situational judgment test fare in Spain?

Despite the globalization of HRM, there is a dearth of research on the potential use of contextualized selection instruments such as situational judgment tests (SJTs) in other countries than those where the selection instruments were originally developed. Therefore, two studies are conducted to examine the transportability of an integrity SJT that was originally developed in the United States to a Spanish context. Study 1 showed that most SJT scenarios (16 out of 19) that were developed in the United States were also considered realistic in a Spanish context. In Study 2, the item option endorsement patterns converged to the original scoring scheme, with the exception of two items. In addition, there were high correlations between the original US empirical scoring scheme and two empirical scoring schemes that were tailored to the Spanish context (i.e., mode consensus scoring and proportional consensus scoring). Finally, correlations between the SJT integrity scores and ratings on a self‐report integrity measure did not differ significantly from each other according to the type of scoring key (original US scoring vs. Spanish scoring keys). Overall, these results shed light on potential issues and solutions related to the cross‐cultural use of contextualized selection instruments such as SJTs.     

Employee attitudes,organizational performance,and qualitative factors underlying success

The first phase of this study investigated the relationship between aspects of organizational climate as assessed by a full consensus employee survey and a variety of organizational performance measures. Strong relationships were found for customer satisfaction, absenteeism, second level grievances, safety, and profits in the expected directions. Subsequent comparisons of the groups above or below one standard deviation from the mean score on an employee survey were completed to determine the extent of the differences suggested by the correlations. In the second phase of this study, a qualitative research project was conducted to determine those aspects of the organizational climate that were associated with the high scoring groups but not with either the average or low scoring groups. Strong evidence was found indicating that the presence of a caring, involved leader was the critical ingredient in the organization's success. The implications of these findings for organizational performance improvement efforts are discussed.     

Effects of fear of success on women's performance at masculine versus feminine tasks

The present study was designed to test hypotheses derived from Horner's theory concerning the effect of the sex-role orientation of the performance situation on the arousal of the motive to avoid success in women. The study compared the performance of women high and low in the motive to avoid success in a male-oriented and a female-oriented situation. It was found that women performed significantly better (p < .01) in the male-oriented than in the female-oriented situation, with this difference between conditions being greater for those women scoring high rather than low in the motive to avoid success (p < .05). These results are inconsistent with an inhibitory anxiety explanation of motive to avoid success. The possibility that the measure of this motive may in part be a measure of ability is discussed.     

An improved method to determine neuromuscular properties using force laws - From single muscle to applications in human movements

We evaluate an improved method for individually determining neuromuscular properties in vivo. The method is based on Hill's equation used as a force law combined with Newton's equation of motion. To ensure the range of validity of Hill's equation, we first perform detailed investigations on in vitro single muscles. The force-velocity relation determined with the model coincides well with results obtained by standard methods (r=.99) above 20% of the isometric force. In addition, the model-predicted force curves during work loop contractions very well agree with measurements (mean difference: 2-3%). Subsequently, we deduce theoretically under which conditions it is possible to combine several muscles of the human body to model muscles. This leads to a model equation for human leg extension movements containing parameters for the muscle properties and for the activation. To numerically determine these invariant neuromuscular properties we devise an experimental method based on concentric and isometric leg extensions. With this method we determine individual muscle parameters from experiments such that the simulated curves agree well with experiments (r=.99). A reliability test with 12 participants revealed correlations r=.72-.91 for the neuromuscular parameters (p<.01). Predictions of similar movements under different conditions show mean errors of about 5%. In addition, we present applications in sports practise and theory.     

Ambivalent sexism: a tool for understanding and improving gender relations in organizations

This study tested predictions regarding ambivalent sexism, previously studied cross-culturally, here "within-culturally", between groups from different organizational settings. Based on three samples (334 adults in general, 744 industrial employees, and 189 high school students), completing a Swedish version of the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI), the results revealed that men scored higher on hostile and benevolent sexism than women, and high school students scored higher than both adult samples on both forms of sexism. The results generally confirmed the predictions; the gender gap in benevolent sexism decreased as a function of increasing levels of general sexism and the correlation between hostile and benevolent sexism decreased with higher levels of general sexism. In fact, the groups scoring highest on general sexism displayed significant negative correlations indicating a polarized ideology of women among these groups. Implications, both theoretical and practical, derived from these results are discussed.     

Measurement of adult performance on Piaget's water horizontality task

Three versions of Piaget's water-level-horizontality task (multiple choice, drawing, and apparatus tests) were administered to 121 female and 74 male adult volunteers. Sex differences and container orientation effects were replicated. Men were more accurate than women and horizontal and vertical container orientations evoked more accurate responses than oblique orientation. Reliability estimates ranged from .78 to .97 and correlations among the measures ranged from .78 to .88. The relative merits of alternative water-level testing and scoring methods and the orientation and type of stimuli to be used are discussed.     

Relationship of internal-external locus of control,self-concept,and masculinity-femininity to fear of success in Black freshmen and senior college women

The concepts of locus of control, self-concept, masculinity-femininity, and their relationship to fear of success in Black college women were explored. Scores were obtained from stories written in response to six verbal cues designed to assess fear-of-success imagery. Tabulations ranging from zero (denoting absence of fear) to six (denoting most fear) were correlated with Gurin's I-E Scale, the Modified Piers-Harris Self-Concept Scale, and the Modified Gough Masculinity-Femininity Scale. There was no significant mean difference between freshmen and seniors on fear of success. However, an analysis of variance revealed that externals showed significantly more fear-of-success imagery than internals. Significant inverse correlations were located between the measure of self-concept and certain cues eliciting fear of success. Femininity was not shown to be related to any of the fear-of-success measures.     

Examining the Factor Structure and Discriminant Validity of the 12-Item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) Among Spanish Postpartum Women

In this study, the authors tested alternative factor models of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) in a sample of Spanish postpartum women, using confirmatory factor analysis. The authors report the results of modeling three different methods for scoring the GHQ-12 using estimation methods recommended for categorical and binary data. A discriminant function analysis was also performed to test the utility of a multiple factor model. A two-phase cross-sectional study was designed: (a) 1,453 women visiting at 6 weeks postpartum completed the GHQ-12 and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale questionnaire and (b) based on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale outcomes, participants were stratified and randomly selected within each stratum for clinical evaluation. Using the Likert-type scoring approach, Hankins's one-factor model with "method effects" obtained the best fit. In addition, Graetz's three-factor model provided little discrimination between diagnostic groups, the factors being highly correlated. These results support the presence of only one latent factor in the GHQ-12.     

EMG activities of facial and chewing muscles of human adults in response to taste stimuli

To evaluate facial expression patterns induced by different taste stimuli, electromyograms (EMG) of the facial and chewing muscles of 12 healthy university students, aged 20 to 23 years, were analyzed. Sucrose (sweet), NaCl (salty), citric acid (sour), quinine-HCl (bitter), monosodium glutamate (MSG; umami), homogentisic acid (harsh), tannic acid (astringent), and capsaicine (pungent) were the taste stimuli used. Rating scale tests were made to assess the hedonics (pleasantness) of the taste stimuli. EMG responses of the corrugator supercilii, venter frontalis, orbicularis oculi, depressor anguli, and digastricus muscles to capsaicine, tannic, acid, and citric acid showed larger amplitudes than to NaCl, MSG, homogentisic acid, and sucrose. Increases in EMG responses for most facial and chewing muscles for the taste solutions had significant negative correlations to the solutions' hedonic scale values. Most facial and chewing muscles of adult humans therefore showed greater responses to disliked than to preferred or less preferred tastes.     

Achievement-related expectations and aspirations in college women

Two hundred unmarried female undergraduates (129 juniors, 71 seniors) participated in an investigation of the thesis that achievement in women is hindered by depressed occupational and educational aspirations, which are in turn influenced by a cluster of a cluster of achievement-related expectations. The study examined correlations among five achievement-related expectations (sex-role conception, expectations about the consequences of role-inappropriate achievement, expectations for success, peer expectations, and perceived discrimination), occupational and educational aspirations, and indices of past achievement and ability. The data support the hypothesized relation between expectations and aspirations. Sex-role conception, expectations of positive consequences from success, expectations of negative consequences from success, expectations for success, female peer expectations, and perceived discrimination were each significantly related to aspirations (p<.05 or above, in all cases). The implications of these findings, along with the high intercorrelations of expectation variables and results from path and factor analyses, are that there is considerable consistency in what women expect from themselves and their social environment, and that these expectations influence women's aspirations.This article is based in part on a dissertation submitted by the author to the faculty of the University of Colorado in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the doctoral degree. This research was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grant #2TO1MH0661316PO. The author gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Drs. D. Wayne Osgood, Lawrence Severy, Kathleen Wells, John Forward, and Mr. Robert Burton in the preparation of this article, and Brynn Beacom, her research assistant, in the conduct of the study.     

Big Five validity: Aggregation method matters

Correlations between Big Five personality factors and other variables have been examined in three different ways: direct scoring of items within a factor, application of a composite score formula, and taking the average of single‐scale correlations. Those methods were shown to yield consistently different outcomes in four sets of data from sales‐people and managers. Factor correlations with job performance were greatest for direct scoring, and were reduced by half when scale correlations were averaged. The insertion of previously suggested estimates into the composite score formula yielded intermediate correlations with performance. It is necessary to interpret summary accounts of correlations with a compound construct in the light of the aggregation method employed.     

When proportion consensus scoring works

Most objectively scored tests use items with easily identifiable correct answers. When such veridical scoring keys cannot be constructed, researchers sometimes use proportion consensus scoring (PCS) to identify the best answers. To determine if PCS identifies the best answers, we scored a test using both PCS and veridical scoring. Among 353 undergraduates, regular PCS, two-stage PCS, and expert PCS all had high correlations for easy items, but no PCS methods had high correlations for difficult items. Thus, PCS cannot reliability identify the best answers to individual items. However, PCS worked well for total scores. For easy items, total scores had correlations above .99 for all PCS methods. For difficult items, expert and two-stage PCS had correlations of .92 and .82 for the 60-item test. Thus, expert and two-stage PCS can be justified (even for difficult items) if the scoring key is based upon people who truly possess some degree of expertise and if scores are summed over many items.     

Plasma interleukin-6 and soluble IL-6 receptors are associated with psychological well-being in aging women.

OBJECTIVE: This study tested the hypothesis that psychological well-being would predict lower plasma levels of inflammatory factors in aging women. DESIGN: One hundred thirty-five women ages 61-91 years (M = 74.5 years) participated in this study. After completing self-administered questionnaires in their homes, participants stayed overnight at the General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Blood samples for cytokine analyses were obtained in participants' homes after the GCRC visit. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Psychological well-being and ill-being, history of health problems, and health behaviors were assessed via self-administered questionnaires. Detailed medical history and concurrent health measures were obtained during the GCRC stay. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays were used to determine interleukin-6 (IL-6) and soluble IL-6 receptor (sIL-6R) concentrations in plasma. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Regression analyses showed that plasma IL-6 levels were lower in women scoring higher on positive relationships, whereas sIL-6R levels were lower in women scoring higher on purpose in life, even after a variety of sociodemographic and health factors were controlled. These outcomes, combined with the absence of significant links with other measures of well-being and ill-being, suggest selective patterns of association between later life inflammatory processes and psychological factors, particularly those focused on positive ties with others and purposeful engagement.