Fear of success in 1965 and 1974: A follow-up study

Lois W. Hoffman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

72 men and 86 women from the 177 college students in M. S. Horner's original 1965 fear-of-success study were interviewed by mail. Measures of fear of success, achievement motivation, and postcollege experiences, particularly pregnancy, were obtained. The 1965 data measuring fear of success and achievement motivation were recoded for comparison with the 1974 data. Recoded 1965 fear-of-success scores indicated a higher frequency, particularly for men, than previously reported, suggesting that recent studies indicating an increase in men since 1965 may reflect in part more liberal coding. Comparison between recoded 1965 and 1974 fear-of-success scores yielded the following results: (a) Women, but not men, showed consistency in their scores. (b) Although in 1965 women had more fear of success than men, these same women 9 yrs later had less. (c) Fear of success in women decreased significantly, while fear of success in men increased but not significantly. Additional analyses led to a questioning of the validity of the fear-of-success measure for men. The measure for women, on the other hand, received support to supplement Horner's original validation: Women high in fear of success in 1965 were significantly more likely than those low in fear of success to become pregnant when on the verge of success relative to their husbands or boyfriends. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)310-321
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
Volume45
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 1977
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • achievement motivation, male vs female college students, 1965, followup in 1974
  • fear of success &

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