A note on the effects of anonymity,response consequence information,and sex on the self-assessment of fear

Despite an increasing emphasis on the direct observation and measurement of behavior in the assessment of fear (e.g. Bernstein, 1973. Goldfried and Sprafkin, 1974: Hersen, 1973). the Fear Survey Schedule (FSS; Geer, 1965: Wolpe and Lang, 1964) has remained popular as a paper-and-pencil instrument for screening large populations of potential treatment subjects prior to behavior avoidance tests (BATs; e.g. Bernstein and Nietzel, 1973). The utility of the FSS for this purpose is largely dependent upon its ability accurately to predict avoidance behavior in the presence of specific fear targets (Hersen, 1973) but. unfortunately, correlations between self-reported fear intensity on the FSS and overt behavior during BATs usually range from low to moderate (Lang, 1968; Schroeder and Craine, 1971). There is evidence that this disparity between FSS reports of fear and subsequent avoidance behavior are due in part to the operation of situational and contextual variables within the BAT which affect overt responses (Bernstein, 1973). and it seems reasonable to suspect that procedural variations in the self-assessment situation (e.g. method of test administration, instructions regarding the nature and purpose of testing, test form. and physical/interpersonal context) could modify FSS responses in a similar fashion. While research on projective and other assessment instruments has clearly established the influence of such variables on test responses (e.g. Azrin, Holz and Goldiamond, 1961; Henry and Rotter, 1956; Page and Yates, 1975). it is presently unknown to what extent ‘impression management’ strategies (Braginsky, Grosse and Ring, 1966) based upon cues in the testing situation bias verbal reports of fear. Preliminary investigation of this problem was undertaken in the present experiment by directly manipulating (a) the degree to which subjects could be identified with and held ‘accountable’ for their reported levels of fear and (b) the amount of information provided about the probable consequences of their responses.