Gender dependency of occupational deviance and role overload as determinants of fear of success imagery

The effects of occupational deviance and role overload on Fear of Success (FOS) scores were investigated following Bremer and Wittig's (1980) finding that these inflate FOS scores when a story cue describing a female character is given to respondents of both sexes. This finding was replicated by the present study. However, stories were also given that described events involving a male character. In this condition occupational deviance and role overload produced no such effect upon the FOS scores. Bremer and Wittig's suggestion that these two variables are independent of the sex of the cue character is therefore refuted and it is argued instead that these variables will be interpreted very differently depending on the sex of the cue character. The finding that male and female respondents produce very similar FOS scores to the same stories provides further evidence that such measurement techniques evoke sex-role stereotypes rather than an indication of the individual's motivation. The particular relevance to Parsons and Goff's (1980) emphasis upon the incentive value component of the McClelland/Atkinson Motivational Model is also explored.