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Developing assertiveness during employment interviews with young adults who stutter.

Assertiveness training procedures have been demonstrated to be effective in working with a variety of clinical populations. Persons who stutter represent a group for whom assertiveness skills may be particularly useful. The present study evaluated the effectiveness of an assertiveness training program that included instruction, modeling, behavior rehearsal, feedback, social reinforcement, and homework. Dependent variables included putting the employer at ease, corrective feedback for interrupting, responding to pejorative statements, and acknowledging positive employer behaviors. The results indicated substantial increases in the target behaviors as well as improvements in subjective ratings of baseline and posttraining interviews. A collateral benefit was a sizable posttraining decrease in the amount of stuttering. These results are discussed with reference to future research isolating the influence of assertiveness skills on stuttering.

Adolescent↗

The effect of high and low assertiveness on locus of control and health problems.

The effect of high and low assertiveness on locus of control and health problems was examined with 78 direct-service workers in mental health and mental retardation settings in northeastern Pennsylvania. The direct-service workers completed the Rathus (1973) Assertiveness Schedule, the Rotter (1966) Internal-External Locus of Control Scale, and a health-problems inventory. Highly assertive individuals were found to be more internally controlled and to experience fewer health problems than were individuals low in assertiveness.

Adult↗

Substantive differences in the assertiveness of low-income African American, Hispanic, and Caucasian women.

A sample of 115 low-income African American, Hispanic, and Caucasian women participated in 6 assertiveness role plays. A content analysis of their responses indicated that there are substantive differences in terms of what constitutes passive, assertive, and aggressive responses. The findings suggest that there are basic conceptual differences across the groups regarding connections and obligations to others. Differences in perceptions of assertiveness point to the culturally specific nature of assertiveness. Functionally, each group of women was able to stand up for themselves, yet boundaries between appropriate and inappropriate responding were placed somewhat differently across groups, depending on the situation.

Acculturation↗

How assertive are nurses in the workplace? A preliminary pilot study.

AIM: This paper aims to outline the development and results of an instrument that describes the assertive behaviour of nurses. BACKGROUND: As a largely female dominated profession, nurses are anecdotally regarded to be in traditional subservient roles. In addition, nurses aspire to public images of nurses as "nice". These factors are thought to reduce nurses' capacity to behave in an assertive manner. However, little empirical evidence exists that describes the assertive skills of today's practicing nurse. METHODS: A 44-item questionnaire collected data from 27 registered nurses. RESULTS: Items that feature strongly in the respondents reported behaviour are allowing others to express opinions, complimenting others and saying no. These findings suggest that nurses behave in a passive way, conforming to the image of a nice nurse. Nurses were less adept at disagreeing with others opinions and providing constructive criticism. Differences emerged in behaviours between the three groups. CONCLUSION: Assertive behaviour is a skill, i.e. utilized according to interpersonal and role relationship. Factors within the work environment such as colleagues and atmosphere can support or prevent these behaviours.

Adult↗

Assertiveness, submissive behaviour and social comparison.

This paper explores the relationship between a new assertiveness measure (the Scale for Interpersonal Behaviour--SIB), social comparison and submissive behaviour. The paper investigates these measures in relation to the personality traits of neuroticism and introversion. Findings suggest: (a) that social comparison may be an important variable in assertiveness and submissive behaviour and shows a strong relationship to neuroticism and introversion; (b) that submissive behaviour is not the mirror opposite of assertive behaviour; and (c) submissive behaviour seems more strongly associated with introversion and neuroticism than assertive performance.

Adult↗

Relationships of assertiveness, depression, and social support among older nursing home residents.

This study assessed the relationships of assertiveness, depression, and social support among nursing home residents. The sample included 50 older nursing home residents (mean age = 75 years; 75% female; 92% Caucasian). There was a significant correlation between assertiveness and depression (r = -.33), but the correlations between social support and depression (r = -.15) and between social support and assertiveness (r = -.03) were small and nonsignificant. The correlation between overall physical health (a subjective self-rating) and depression was strong and negative (r = -.50), with lower levels of health associated with higher depression. An implication of this study is that an intervention for depression among nursing home residents that is targeted at increasing assertiveness and bolstering health status may be more effective than the one that solely targets social support.

Aged↗

Teaching assertive communication skills to adolescents with diabetes: evaluation of a camp curriculum.

Diabetes management requires consistently implementing adherence behaviors in a variety of settings. For some adolescents, consistency may be difficult due to problems in communication and assertiveness. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the impact of a camp curriculum to teach assertive communication skills to adolescents with diabetes. The curriculum included didactic information, sharing of personal experiences, and role playing. Results showed a significant increase in adolescents' perceptions of their assertiveness from before to after the camp experience, an increase that was still apparent at a 3-month follow-up. No changes were reported in parental perceptions of their adolescents' degree of openness in communicating or in communication problems. In contrast, adolescents reported a significant decrease in their degree of openness in communicating with fathers, with a similar trend for mothers. These results suggest that the curriculum was successful in meeting the primary goal of enhancing the adolescents' assertive communication skills but had a questionable impact on their general communications with parents.

Adolescent↗

Those who hesitate lose: the relationship between assertiveness and response latency.

Individuals who are low in assertiveness may take longer to sort out, process, and state their own perceptions, attitudes and priorities, which puts them at a disadvantage in getting their needs met. The reason for this may not be inhibition in social situations or cognitive ability, but a lack of clarity regarding their own attitudes, opinions, preferences, goals, and priorities. 101 undergraduate students (57% women and 43% men) completed a demographics questionnaire, the Wonderlic Personnel Test, a self-monitoring scale, the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale, the College Self-expression Scale, and a test of the false-consensus effect. Response latencies to questions were measured. Individuals with higher scores on the Wonderlic Personnel Test answered items more quickly but, even when cognitive ability was controlled, individuals low in assertiveness still took significantly longer to respond to questions about themselves, their opinions, and their preferences. If individuals fall behind at this early step in the process of asserting themselves, then they may be more likely to miss opportunities to be assertive.

Assertiveness↗

Fakability of two different role-play methodologies for assessing assertion.

The fakability of two methodologically different role-play tests of assertion was examined, 30 undergraduates low in assertiveness were tested and retested on the Behavioral Assertiveness Test--Revised and the Idiographic Role-play Test. Half of the testees were instructed to fake assertion during the second testing. Analysis indicated that both tests were fakable; however, testees reported more difficulty faking the latter test than the former. The detection of faking may be possible, particularly on role-play tests employing an idiographic methodology.

Assertiveness↗

Assertiveness in Hispanic adolescents: relationship to alcohol use and abuse.

An investigation was carried out on the relation of assertiveness to use of alcohol among 3129 Hispanic junior high school students. Data were obtained through questionnaires administered in 47 public and parochial schools in New York City to 5501 students. An 18-item modified version of the Gambrill-Richey Assertiveness Inventory was used to assess assertiveness. Factor analysis of the inventory identified five assertiveness factors of substance awareness, mastery of cognitive skills, individual rights, dating, and social skills. Significant gender differences were observed. Multiple regression analysis showed that substance awareness was negatively associated with alcohol use while dating, social skills, and individual rights factors were positively associated with alcohol use. Acculturation with peers was also a significant predictor of alcohol use or abuse. The findings provide a basis for design of alcohol prevention programs that specifically focus on Hispanic youth.

Adolescent↗

Which lesson components mediate refusal assertion skill improvement in school-based adolescent tobacco use prevention?

Any of three components of current school-based refusal assertion training might mediate improvement of seventh grade students' ability to refuse tobacco use offers: 1) teaching students knowledge of ways to say "no," 2) engaging students in the practice of refusal assertion, or 3) motivating students to perform refusal assertion in a socially skilled way. A 3-condition true field experimental "component study" of the differential effects of these three components yielded improvement in role-played behavioral skill to refuse tobacco offers that was evident in both the Knowledge and Practice conditions but not in the Motivation condition. In these same two conditions, skills training led to a significant decrease in students' intention to use smokeless tobacco in the future but not cigarettes. A focus on engaging students in Knowledge and Practice components of refusal assertion training appears warranted.

Adolescent↗

[Effects of intimacy and familiarity on self-assertive strategy in interpersonal conflicts among preschool children].

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of interpersonal relations on self-assertive strategy. One hundred and thirty-four preschool children, 70 boys and 64 girls between five and six years old, were asked a set of questions concerning how they would feel and behave when a peer provoked them. The peer intimacy and familiarity were systematically varied, and the main results were as follows: High-intimacy/high-familiarity group chose self-assertive strategies more frequently than High-intimacy/low-familiarity group, and Low-intimacy/low-familiarity group chose self-assertive strategies more often than Low-intimacy/high-familiarity group. It was also found that the self-assertive strategy they would choose depend on the intimacy and familiarity of the peer. Implications of the findings for social cognitive ability and self-regulation of preschool children were discussed.

Assertiveness↗

[Relationship between members' egoistic self-assertion and captains' leadership in athletic clubs].

This study examined the relationships between club members' egoistic self-assertion and their captains' leadership with respect to the adjustment to activities in extracurricular athletic clubs. Participants were 638 junior high school students who belong to the athletic clubs. The research was conducted by means of a questionnaire and the following results were obtained. When the captains took a laissez-faire command, club members who did not assert themselves egoistically were not satisfied with their captains, and did not participate in the club activities very diligently. On the other hand, when the captains took an authoritative command, the members who asserted themselves egoistically were not satisfied with club activities. These results suggest that the relationships between egoistic self-assertion by club members and leadership by captains have a great influence on the adjustment to club activities.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Changes in women's assertiveness in response to status and roles: a cross-temporal meta-analysis, 1931-1993.

Across two meta-analyses, American women's assertiveness rose and fell with their social status from 1931 to 1993. College women and high school girls' self-reports on assertiveness and dominance scales increased from 1931 to 1945, decreased from 1946 to 1967, and increased from 1968 to 1993, explaining about 14% of the variance in the trait. Women's scores have increased enough that many recent samples show no sex differences in assertiveness. Correlations with social indicators (e.g., women's educational attainment, women's median age at first marriage) confirm that women's assertiveness varies with their status and roles. Social change is thus internalized in the form of a personality trait. Men's scores do not demonstrate a significant birth cohort effect overall. The results suggest that the changing sociocultural environment for women affected their personalities, most likely beginning in childhood.

Adolescent↗

Correlates of adolescent assertiveness with HIV avoidance in a four-nation sample.

Adolescents are frequently admonished to be socially assertive in order to confront negative interpersonal peer influences. Since the advent of HIV/AIDS in human social chemistry, the admonition has become more critical than ever. But the warning is often proffered in the misguided presumption that social assertiveness is the all-required psycho-structure against risk. The present cross-national study examines social and sexual assertiveness in four-country adolescent samples of Nigerian, Thai, Chinese, and Japanese college students. The findings reveal that sexual rather than social assertiveness was the sine qua non against risk, cross-culturally.

Adolescent↗

[Self-assertion communication in the family].

The present research was aimed at studying the familiar triads (adolescent child-father-mother). The familiar dynamics was approached by empathic skills at intrapersonal level and by communication patterns among the family members at interpersonal level. Empathic skills were evaluated by the Davis Interpersonal Reactivity Index and by the Mehrabian and Epstein Empathy Questionnaire, while communication patterns were evaluated by the Consensus Rorschach test. Modeling a familiar problem-solving situation with the Consensus Rorschach test, we focused on the self-assertion capabilities of the family members in the communication process. This self-assertion was not qualified as positive or negative phenomenon, rather its intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships with empathy and communication styles were evaluated. The present results show a positive correlation of self-assertion with cooperative communication and a negative correlation with blocking communication. It is also shown that at interpersonal level, the self-assertion tendencies of the child are negatively correlated to the emphatic skills of family members.

Adolescent↗

Anxiety and assertiveness in the relatives of alcoholics and controls.

The Rathus Assertiveness Schedule (RAS) and the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory A-Trait Scale (STAI) were administered to male university students and nonacademic staff. Subjects classified as "at-risk" on the basis of a history of alcoholism in a first-degree relative (N = 30) were compared to controls with no such family histories (N = 30). The two groups were matched on demographic variables and drinking history. No significant differences were found between the groups on the traits of anxiety or assertiveness, although the subjects hypothesized to be at higher risk for alcoholism showed a trend toward higher assertiveness scores. These findings are not consistent with the hypothesis that higher levels of anxiety and/or lower levels of assertiveness predispose an individual toward the development of alcoholism.

Adult↗

Behavioral and bodily self concept changes after assertive training. A pilot study.

The study aims at finding correlations between the development of assertiveness through assertive training and the modification of the bodily self concept (or body image). Eleven social phobic patients (6 women, 5 men, mean age 31.5) are treated in two groups and measured by Rathus's assertiveness schedule, and Osgood's semantic differential (key concepts: my self, my body, my voice, my gestures, my look; control concept: a table). At post test and follow-up (between 6 and 9 months), an ANOVA shows a significant positive change in assertiveness (p 0.001), correlated with modifications in bodily self concept. The patients are rating their body and their look as more active and stronger, but the body is perceived as more dangerous (p 0.05). No change appears in the other key concepts and the control concept. The interrelation between behavioral and cognitive changes are discussed.

Agoraphobia↗