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Fear of Success, Need Achievement, and Fear of Failure: A factor analytic study

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Abstract

Several tests of Fear of Success (FOS), Fear of Failure (FOF), and Need Achievement (nAch), plus Taylor's Manifest Anxiety Scale and a social desirability scale were administered to 104 males and 101 females. FOS, FOF, and nAch did not show factor validity. Results for predictive validity were also poor. Anxiety defined the first factor in the factor analysis. All first-factor tests negatively predicted female grade point average and American College Test scores. All the first-factor tests showed sex differences, with females scoring higher. A clarifying role for anxiety in the study of sex differences in achievement is indicated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bowling Green State University, USA

    Nancy E. Macdonald & Janet Shibley Hyde

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  1. Nancy E. Macdonald
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  2. Janet Shibley Hyde
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Macdonald, N.E., Hyde, J.S. Fear of Success, Need Achievement, and Fear of Failure: A factor analytic study. Sex Roles 6, 695–711 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287490

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