The relationship between fears and anxiety: a further study

Although theoretically distinct, fears and generalized anxiety appear to be highly interrelated. Cooke (1966) found that desensitization therapy led to a greater reduction in reported fears among high anxious Ss than among the low anxious Ss undergoing treatment for phobias. Suinn (1968) noted that reductions in overall fears accompanied decreases in anxiety in students treated for test anxiety. Lang and Lazovik (1963), and Grossberg and Wilson (1965) reported significant positive correlations between scores on the Fear Survey Schedule and the Manifest Anxiety Scale (1953). Similar results led Geer (1965) to conclude that “fears contribute substantially to general anxiety”. In a similar vein, Suinn (1965) found high relationships between experiences of generalized anxiety and specific situational anxiety. He speculated that Ss who “respond with anxiety to a specific cue or setting (such as examinations) are likely to respond in a similar manner to differing, nonrelated cues or settings” (p. 318).This study was conducted to determine whether the association between fears and generalized anxiety also occurs with the more specific, test-taking anxiety. If the tendency to react fearfully to objects also predisposes the individual to react with anxiety in other settings, then measures of fears should be positively associated with measures of test anxiety.