Abstract
Two explanations have been offered for the effects of fear of success: Tremeser's (1977) boundary maintenance theory and Stiver's (1976) sex-role prescription model. Fear of success is defined as performance suppression (a reduction in performance from a first task to a second) following knowledge regarding success level and sex role orientation of the task. Seventy-five female and 75 male college undergraduates served as subjects. Employing a behavioral measure, support for the hypotheses was not found. Analysis of data that reflected how invested the subjects were in performing well, however, showed significant results in a manner generally consistent with the positions of both Stiver and Tresemer. From these data, it seems that participation in what is perceived as sex role inappropriate behavior plays a role in the fear-of-success effect. Since the power of the success feedback was limited, the importance of this variable to the fear-of-success effect could not be clearly determined. While no overall sex differences were found using the task performance behavioral measure, data from the current study do suggest that men and women react differentially to some of the variables involved in the fear-of-success effect. Methodologically, it is suggested that future research continue to use subjects' personal estimates of what success means for them in the particular tasks under study. In addition, it is recommended that several levels of measurement be used to reveal the complex phenomenon of fear of success.
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This article is based on a dissertation by the first author in partial fulfillment of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.
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Romberg, D.L., Shore, M.F. A test of two hypotheses of fear of success. Sex Roles 14, 163–180 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00288247
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00288247