MOTIVATION TO AVOID SUCCESS
IN WOMEN AS RELATED TO YEAR IN
SCHOOL ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND
SUCCESS CONTEXT

Thesis for the Degree of Ph. D.
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
IDA ZEKTICK KRESOJEVICH
1972

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Motivation to Avoid Success in Women
as Related to Year in School, Academic Achievement
and Success Context
presented by

Ida Zektick Kresojevich

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for

Date May 15, 1972

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ABSTRACT
DTIVATION TO AVOID SUCCES IN WOMEN
AS RELATED>TO YEAR IN SCHOOL

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND
SUCCESS CONTEXT

by
Ida Zektick KresoJevich

Research on achievement motivation in women has re-
ceived renewed interest. A doctoral proJect conducted at the
university of Michigan by Hatina Herner (1968) introduced the
concept that women are culturally conditioned to fear suc-
cess, because of possible negative consequences. She pre-
sented a measure which she called the "motive to avoid
success" (1:!) , which was derived from the scoring of a
verbal TAT. The measure was found relevant to the stories
of many females and very few males.

The present study was designed to explore the re-
lationship of !:g_to several variables traditionally viewed
as relevant to achievement motivation: achievement history,
as reflected in cumulative grade-point average (GPA); age
and developmental stage, as reflected in year in school;
and success context, represented by a range of story situa-
tions.

Six verbal cues were presented to a sample of 80
undergraduate women, stratified on the basis of college
achievement (Hi and Lo GPA) and year in school (sophomore

and senior).

Ida KresoJevich (2)

Stories were scored by two independent raters for the
presence or absence of gtg, operationally defined as "nega-
tive imagery about success." Also used was a five point
Outcome score, considered an index of optimism, which sum-
marized whether the close of the Sjs story left the main
character approaching or avoiding the success presented in
the cue. A third measure asked §s to indicate their degree
of liking for each story. This measure was intended to re-
flect the individual's willingness to relate to the particu-
lar conflicts aroused. Finally, §s were asked what they
expected to be doing in 10 years, their "Future Plans."
Analyses of variance and correlations were used to explore
the relationships between these variables.

gtg_was found in at least one story of virtually
every §, Hi GPA women were found to be significantly more
negative about success than Lo GPA women. Also, the context
of the success situation was found to be important, both in
relation to gtg_and Outcome. Sophomores were significantly
more optimistic about success than seniors. Engscores of
sophomores and seniors did not differ appreciably.

Lo GPA women had significantly higher Story Liking
scores than Hi GPA women. Also, a significant interaction
was obtained between year in school and success context.
negative correlations between £22 and Outcome measures

reached statistical significance for two story types.

Ida Kreaojevich (3)
Women were grouped into four categories on the basis
of their Future Plans, and then groups were compared on the
dependent variables. Speculations were offered and hypo-
theses generated.
In general, the findings obtained replicated earlier
claims made by Horner (1968), and further defined the issue

of women's feelings about success.

MOTIVATION TO AVOID SUCCESS IN WOMEN
AS RELATED TO YEAR IN SCHOOL,
ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND
SUCCESS CONTEXT

By
Ida Zektick KresoJevich

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of Psychology

1972

To

To'

To

To

To

To

To
To

A?
' 1

.5

{V}

I
l

i!

DEDICATION

those who have encouraged, and, especially, those who have

discouraged;

Mother, who thought I would have made a good bookkeeper--

the

the

the

the

(I would have);

undergraduate advisor who told me it was a long hard
road, little girl--(it would have been, for a little
girl):

high school counselor who said I could be a "good"
almost anything; who said, if you want to be a
Clinical Psychologist, then be one;

roomful of old ladies who said, "You have courage,"
and then handed me the chance to actualize that
quality;

psychiatrist who told me, at 13, that "happiness" is

like Jazz-~(you were wrong, thank God);

my husband, who gave all he could;

everyone who has loved and cared about me, and given so

generously of themselves, that I might have this

opportunity;

I dedicate this work.

11

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
DEDICATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
LIST OF TABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
LIST OF APPENDICES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi

Chapter
I O MRODUMION O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 1

General Introduction
Review of the Literature

1
3
The Horner Study 3
Sex-role Development 5
7
O

Achievement Motivation and Role Conflict
Marriageability 1

Summary 12
II. STATE“ OF THE PROBLEM o o o o o o e o o o 0 1"

Goals of the Present Study 1”
Predictions 16

III. mmD O O O O O O O O O O 0 O O O O O O O O O 18

General Procedure 18
Subject Selection Criteria 18
Selection Procedure 19
Experimental Sample 22
Measures 23
Incomplete Stories 23
Scoring Procedure 26
M-s Scores 26
Ofitcome Scores 27
Story Liking 28
Future Plans 28
Grade-Point Average 28
Comments 29
Procedure 29

111

Chapter
IV.

V.

VI.

VII.
VIII.

RESULTS. .

Inter ~rater Agreement

Motive to Avoid Success
Outcome Scores

Story Liking

Future Plans

DISCUSS ION .

Motive to Avoid Success
Outcome Scores

Story Liking
Marriageability

Future Plans

Story Content

N-ach Stories
F-ach Stories
Neutral Stories

CONCLUSIONS.

Critique

Future Research
Integration of Findings

LIST OF REFERENCES

APPENDICES

iv

Table
1.

LIST OF TABLES

Mean M-s Scores for each Experimental
Group as a Function of Story Type. . . . . .

Summary of Analysis of variance: M-s Scores

Mean Outcome Scores for each Experimental
Group as a Function of Story Type. . . . . .

Summary of Analysis of variance: Outcome
scores 0 0 I O O O O O O O O O O O I O O O 0

Mean Story Liking Scores for Each Experi-
mental Group as a Function of Story Type . .

Summary of Analysis of variance: Story
Liking O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0

Future Plans Expressed by each Experimental
or cup 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 O O O O 0

Mean M-s, Outcome, and Story Liking Scores
as a Ffifiction of Future Plans. . . . . . . .

Page

32
33

3A

35

36

37

39

40

LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix Page
A. Introductory Letter and Questionnaire. . . . . 77
B. Letter of Assignment of Research Session . . . 80
C. Number of §s in Each Academic Curriculum . . . 81

vi

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

General Introduction

 

In a recent study published in Psychology Today,

 

Horner (1969) discussed her finding of a negative achieve-

" in women. It

ment motivation, a "motive to avoid success,
is defined as "...the fear that success in competitive situa-
tions will lead to negative consequences, such as unpopular-
ity and loss of femininity."

Herner theorizes that in our society there are
contradictory pressures influencing a woman's achievement
strivings. She is expected to work hard, be a good student,
and get good grades. However, it is of foremost importance
that she marry. Conflict arises when she finds herself in
competitive situations with men. If she succeeds, she may
lessen her prospects for marriage. This conflict is maxi-
mized during the college years, when school is demanding
increasing time and dedication, and society sees her as most
marriageable. Horner presented data in support of the view
point that women resolve this conflict by choosing to fail.

This notion at once intrigued me, sparking enthu-‘

siasm, curiosity, and, of course, skepticism. Much interest

centered around the impression that the article was written

2
from a rather strong women's liberation point of view. This
thought was aroused by the author's affirmation that re-
searchers largely have avoided the topic of achievement
motivation in women. It was furthered by the general tone
of the article, and the rather loaded presentation of experi-
mental hypotheses and methodology.

It is apparent that women's liberation is in vogue
at the moment. It is truly difficult to pick up a women's
magazine or Sunday newspaper that does not feature an article
on the "woman issue." Therefore, in the interpretation of
experimental findings it would be important to evaluate the
impact of the women's liberation movement as a social phen-
omenon.

However, as in all research, it would be important to
free the design from one's biases to the greatest degree
possible (Rosenthal, 1958). Could Horner's results be repli-
cated at a comparable university? Were the findings reliable,
or merely artifacts of a particular design and experimenter?
Can such a motive be found in all women, or Just some portion?

The impression that Horner's biases contributed some-
what too heavily to the experimental design, and to the
shaping of findings, coupled with the belief that here is
an exciting area greatly in need of further study, left
clear the task of replicating, clarifying, and extending
her findings.

Review of the Literature
The following discussion indicates the direction of
previous research in this area and the theoretical considera-

tions which motivated this study.

The fibrner Study_
The Psychology Today publication cited earlier

 

(Horner, 1969) highlights one facet of a doctoral thesis
(Horner, 1968) conducted at the University of Michigan. The
purpose was to explore achievement motivation in women on a
variety of tasks in competitive and non-competitive situa-
tions, and to attempt clarification of sex differences found
in prior research (Lesser et al. 1963; Moss and Kagan, 1961;
Lipinski, 1966).

In addition to the five verbal cues presented in
studying need for achievement (2:522): Herner's experimental
group of 90 female and 88 male undergraduates was asked to
write a story based on the following verbal lead:

After first-term.finals, John (Anne) finds

himself (herself) at the top of his (her)

medical school class.

The girls wrote about Anne; the boys, Jehn.

The pattern of results was "ambiguous and in-
conclusive" until the "motive to avoid success" (5:33.) was
developed. A story was scored for Mtg if it expressed
any "negative imagery that reflected concern about doing
well." Over 65$ of the females told stories that fell

into this category, as contrasted to less than ten percent

of the males.

Horner conceptualizes 5:3 as a "psychological
barrier to achievement motivation in women." It exists
because, for most women, the prospect of success in com,
petitive achievement, particularly against men, is fraught

5.”; A71 I\v‘.KZ'I./""
with anxiety. '

Also assessed was the performance of these §s on
achievement tasks in a variety of competitive situations.
Using §s as their own controls, it was found that a large
number of the men worked better under competition. This
was true of fewer than one-third of the women. When
achievement scores were examined in terms of Mtg, §s who
felt "ambivalent or anxious about doing well" performed
best in a non-competitive situation. An unexpected finding
is that the girls in Horner's sample who feared success
also "tended" to have high intellectual ability and history
of academic success.

Certainly, this study is fascinating. The differ-
ences found between male and female subjects are striking.
However, the relationship between the expression of 5:2 and
behavioral rejection of success is unclear. The expression
of "negative imagery" (which also may be considered anxiety)
does not necessarily indicate behavioral avoidance.

The findings that Honors women tend to fear success,
and express preference for non-competitive situations seemed
particularly confusing. How did they get to be Honors stu-

dents in the first place? Perhaps their expression of M-s

5
is, rather, an indication of their awareness of societal
norms, and of the strain they are experiencing in attempting
to deviate. These Honors women may be nodding acceptance
of societal taboos in their stories and in their laboratory

performance, while nonetheless pursuing their own goals.

Sex-role Development

Brown, in his review article on sex-role development.
(1958), summarized research showing that from the sixth
through the ninth years, most girls show a strong preference
for masculine rather than feminine activities. A changeover
occurs, probably around the fifth grade. In contrast, boys
at all ages show a strong preference for the masculine role.
The author suggested that this finding of widespread mas-
culine role preference among girls makes it reasonable to
hypothesize that conflict or confusion will be conspicuous
in a female's sex-role development.

As a discussant on a panel at the 1969 American
Psychiatric Association Symposium on Youth Unrest, Goodman
(1969) spoke of sources of anxiety specific to the older
adolescent. He pointed out that one of the majggggm,llen-

“HIM
a“"“"
“M - I.“

ges facing young people upon the transition from late

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adolescence to early adulthood, is the achievement of an

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integration of one' s own individual self and the demands of

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the culture. "It is clear that the successful metamorphosis

A...“

 

from the late adolescent to young adult requires an adequate

response to many interlocking maturational and developmental

challenges" (p. 1152).

Nevitt Sanford (1962) was more specific in relating
his impressions of women students at Vassar. ‘

...[The entering college freshman] asks herself'

Jk' how to be feminine though committed to a pro-

gram of activities that, apparently, have

nothing to do with sex roles....she tends to

restrict herself rather narrowly to cultural-

ly defined feminine activities and interests,

and to be much concerned with the question of

how she can keep up or increase her attractive-

ness to men. She still has to learn of the

variety of things she might do, of the diver-

sity of roles she might take, without endanger-

ing her capacity to carry out essential

feminine functions (p. 265).

Steinmann, Levi, and Fox (1964) examined the self—
concept of women college students who were attempting this
integration of individual needs with cultural expectations,
in regard to sex role. They found the conflict predicted
by Brown (1958). Their unmarried undergraduates perceived
man's ideal woman as significantly more passive and accep-
ting of a subordinate role than they themselves assumed._
This disparity may be considered evidence for internalized
conflict with regard to a woman's feelings about her attrac-
tiveness to men and desirability.

Kalka (1968) observed a leveling effect in role
concepts and social attitudes from the freshman through the
senior year, in the college women she studied. It would be
interesting to know the makeup of Steinmann's group on this

variable. Perhaps her §s were predominantly freshmen.

7

;
Achievement Motivation and Role Conflict

In attempting to discuss achievement motivation in
women, it is virtually impossible to separate out the topic
of role conflict. In his review article, Turner (1964) pre-
sented a consensus view that achievement motivation is con-
siderably more complex an issue in women than it is in men.
No one asks a male college freshman, "Would you rather be a
doctor or a father?" Yet, a woman student must constantly

____.a_ ”www.1— “cu-mom“ mmmfl-fl-fiu

relate to the cultural expectation that she bear and rear

w

 

children.
-_"""wflih his commentary on problems in counseling girls at
the high school level, Lewis (1965) noted that counselors
find it frustrating to talk to girls about post-marriage
needs. He found most girls too invested in a future image
of wife and mother to be able to see anything else in their
lives.

Christensen's (1961) questionnaire survey of 6,000
high-school students found that approximately half the
females planned additional formal education. This propor-
tion is higher than among males; however, fewer females
intended to finish college. The author concluded:
"Apparently more females planned to attend college for
social reasons, and fewer for professional reasons, as
compared with males."

However, this may not necessarily be the case.

Women may indeed see themselves as having either a

8
marriage or a career. Christensen's statistic may reflect
their choice of marriage.
Heilbrun (1963) gave evidence for the female sex-
”
role being in conflict with achievement needs. He hypo-

Wo~

thesized, in part, that the social role demands of college

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and the femunine sex- -role are incompatible, and that this

 

 

 

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results in sex role confusion.

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Two groups of male and female undergraduates were
given measures of role confusion and identification.
Heilbrun found that females in general showed greater "value-
behavior inconsistency," and that this confusion was re-
stricted to the class of behaviors relevant to achievement
motivation, but not to a wider range of interpersonal roles.

Attempting to define the relationship between sex-
role conflict and achievement motivation, Lipinski (1966)
gave two introductory psychology classes the neutral and
achievement-oriented conditions of the McClelland achieve-
ment-arousal paradigm. Later, 87 who had been present for
both conditions completed several measures in groups: three
measures of sex-role identity, the Manifest Anxiety Scale,
and the Need for Achievement Scale; and an autobiographical

questionnaire.

Subjects grouped on the basis of responses to the sex-
role identity measures as masculine-oriented did not increase
more in g:flgh_scores under experimental arousal than did the
feminine-oriented group. Further, the Manifest Anxiety Scale
and the Reed for Achievement Scale did not differentiate

9

sex-role conflict groups from other groups. Thus, it is not
necessarily a masculine identification which is linked with
a need for achievement in women. And, the sex-role conflict
is not measured by the Manifest Anxiety Scale. According
to these indices, some women who have need for achievement
experience sex-role conflict, and some do not.

In concluding, Lipinski (1966) notes that in the
autobiographical section, women indicated that achievement
areas previously not emphasized by researchers were valued
by her women: attaining closer social relationships, and
active mastery of problems.

Sundheim (1963) was concerned with the relationship
between 9:522 and a whole constellation of variables: sex-
role concepts, academic grades, need for affiliation, and
curricular choice. With her group of 112 undergraduate
women at Temple university, she found that need for achieve-
ment was not related to grades. Women in the science curric-
ulum demonstrated the highest need for achievement. Those
in the language curriculum came next, while women in elemen~
tary education showed the lowest need for achievement.

Women in elementary education had the highest need for
affiliation: this was significantly higher than the science
group. Finally, women who perceived their sex-role as non-
traditional did not have a greater need for achievement than
for affiliation, nor did they earn higher grade-point

averages.

10

Both Lipinski (1966) and Sundheim (1963) were ex-
ploring the idea that masculine-oriented women possess a
higher need for achievement. Neither were able to sub-
stantiate this claim.

In a similar vein, Rand (1968) hypothesized that
homemaking-oriented women and career-oriented women would
score at the extremes of a feminine-masculine continuum.
With a group of 300 career-oriented and 5&8 homemaker-
oriented college freshmen women, she found that the career-
oriented sample scored higher on masculinity measures.
However, in four out of six comparisons, the homemaker-
oriented girls did not score higher on femininity measures.
In fact, on some of the feminine variables, the career-

oriented sample exceeded the homemaker group.

Marriageability

 

 

The role conflict under discussion in the previous
studies, of course, springs from the fear that any devia-
tion from.typically feminine behavior may Jeopardize a
woman's chances for marriage. Still, relatively few re-
searchers have addressed themselves to this topic in a
fairly direct fashion.

In a questionnaire sent to women between the ages
of 37 and 47, who had graduated from.three public high
schools between 1931 and 1938, Mulvey (1963) investigated
three areas: personal characteristics, employment informa—

tion, and attitudes and opinions. She concluded:

ll

Marital status exerts the most significant

influence of all factors upon the state of

happiness of women in the 'middle years.‘

Specifically, the married state, unbroken

and continuous, irrespective of family and/or

employment status, is the greatest single con-

tributor to the highest (autonomous) level of
adjustment, and thus is a necessary element

for a mature integration of personality (p. 38).

3111: (1952) hypothesized that upward social
mobility is frequently inspired by unsatisfactory primary
group relations. She noted the tendency for extensive
education and occupational success to reduce a woman's
chances for marriage, and reasoned that neurotic drives
stemming from early childhood experiences could be the
true cause of both. With two groups of women, paired for
unmarried status and occupational status, she noted that
those who had been more mobile gave evidence of poorer
childhood relations and were more "neurotic."

Thus we have researchers substantiating society's
view that a woman's true happiness lies in marriage: and,
that if she strives for a career, she will probably not
marry.

In a study of women who took on the challenge of a
professional career, Kosa and Coker (1965) found that among
women doctors, late marriages are common. The conflicting
demands of role expectations of doctor and wife sent some
women into pediatrics. Many stayed in public health, when
their male colleagues left for private practice. The

authors found that within medicine there exists a sex-based

division of fields comparable to the division existing

12
within the professions generally.

Summary

This brief review of the literature attests to the
fragmentary nature of available research on achievement
motivation in women. It may reflect the fact, as sug-
gested by Horner (1969), that researchers are primarily
male. However, it may also evidence that woman's role in
our society is in a state of flux.

Economic necessity progressively has been forcing
women out of the home into the labor market. The popula-
tion crisis has made having more than two children question-
able, at best. Certainly, it has legitimized birth control.
Revised thinking about the sanctity of marriage and the
need to preserve the nuclear family has made divorce more
attainable.

Previously, it has been unnecessary for women to
make a commitment to anything beyond the home. It was
assumed her place there was secure. Throughout the fifties,
women flirted with the notion of taking a partime Job to
supplement the family income. In the sixties, they began to
consider returning to work after the children reached school
age.

But the notion that woman has a need to achieve,
both internally and externally motivated, in a milieu other
than the home, is really Just beginning to attain social
acceptability in the seventies. It is, in some respects,

an idea of the future. Thus, we have a very complex

13
interaction of economic, political, social, and psycho-
logical forces culminating in the women's liberation
movement.
The sketchiness of prior research may be taken as
being indicative of male chauvinism, or mere disinterest.
It may also be seen as reluctance on the part of social

scientists to study progress.

CHAPTER II

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Goals of the Present Study

 

The focus of the present study was to clarify and
further explore Horner's finding (1968) of a "motive to
avoid success" in women.

In first consideration of the problem, many avenues
of exploration came to mind. A developmental study could be
conducted. Women who had dropped out of a university could
be interviewed. Comparable groups of women in middle life
who had and had not completed college could be studied.

However, it did not seem appropriate to extend the
inquiry without prior elucidation of the construct. Thus,
the present study was designed.

A primary goal was to find whether Horner's finding
of a widespread "motivation to avoid success" (!:2) could be
replicated. To allow for maximum comparability, the same
experimental task was employed: namely, the incomplete
story technique. Also, a college student population was
utilized, as in the Horner study.

In addition to replication, however, further expli-
cation of the construct was sought. In whom can !:§ be

found? What is the influence of a woman's own achievement

lb

15
history on her feelings about success? Will a student who
has done honors work be as apt to be avoidant of success as
one who has barely passed?

The impact of a woman's number of years in college
might also bear on the subject. What are the views of a
woman who is graduating from college, compared to one in
the middle of her four-year bachelor's program? What inter-
action occurs between a woman student's year in school and
her grade-point average?

In addition, it seemed crucial to explore the concept
of success in a wide variety of situations. From the outset,
it appeared unusual to speak of success as unidimensional,
independent of context. Are there differences in response
to success when a variety of achievement situations is pre-
sented? Are women equally anxious to avoid success, regard—
less of the realm?

These queries are conceptually related to Atkinson's
thinking on achievement motivation (Atkinson, l96h). When
discussing the degree of need for achievement demonstrated,
Atkinson took into account three factors: a motive to
achieve success which the individual carries with him from
one situation to another; the subjective probability of suc-
cess; and, the incentive value of success at a particular
activity.

An individual's "subjective probability of success"
is influenced by his achievement history, which is reflected
in grade-point average. Similarly, Atkinson's mention of

16

the impact of the particular activity is related to the
present discussion of the context of the success situation.

Finally, a woman's prospects for getting married may
be relevant to her feelings about success. Horner grouped
the gtg_responses of her college student §s into categories.
One response category is related to lessened prospects for
marriage: another, to loss of femininity. Thus, an addi-
tional goal of the inquiry was to examine the responses to
success situations given by women who have had some assur-
ance that they are marriageable, and to compare them to

those given by women with no such knowledge.

Predictions

 

The spirit of this inquiry was not totally congruent
with traditional hypothesis-testing. Horner's observation
(1969) that research on achievement motivation in women has
been scarce is accurate. Thus, it was of questionable merit
to make directional predictions as to which women will opt
for success, which, avoidance of success. The project was
not begun in a fixed theoretical framework; rather, it took
several relevant variables--grade-point average (GPA), year
in school, context of the success situation, and whether a
woman as yet had had affirmation of her marriageability--
and explored the relationship of each to the criterion
measures.

The stories were examined for negative imagery about

success, what Horner calls M-s. In addition, the outcome of

17
the story was also considered. It was possible that nega—
tive imagery about success would be directly related to a
negative story outcome. However, it was also possible that
a story would contain negative imagery (fits) and still have
an outcome that presented the main character as approaching
success.
To allow for maximum exploration of the concepts

involved, no specific hypotheses were formulated. Statis-
tical analyses were planned accordingly to facilitate this

process.

CHAPTER III

METHOD

General Procedure

 

Subjects were selected from the population of female
undergraduates at Michigan State university. Preliminary
groups of high and low achieving sophomores and seniors were
sent questionnaires to gain information about their "Marriage-
ability." Subjects were then invited to participate in a
two-hour research session. In small groups, §s were admin-
istered six incomplete stories, paralleling closely the
technique used by Horner (1968). They were also asked to
indicate their degree of liking for each story. Finally,
each §_was requested to state what she thought she would be

doing in ten years.

Subject Selection Criteria

 

From the population of full-time undergraduate women
students enrolled at Michigan State university, potential Se
met the following criteria:

glass: §s must have been classified by the Univer-
sity as having either sophomore or senior status. (Seniors
graduating that quarter were exempted, since the research
would require participation during the next months, and stu-

dents are seldom available after graduation.)
18

l9

Grade-Point Average (GPA: A woman must have earned

 

a cumulative GPA in one of two categories: Hi GPA: 3.h
to h.0 inclusive (high B or A): or, Lo GPA: 2.0 to 2.29
inclusive (low 0, the university's lowest average acceptable
for senior status).

Marriageability: A woman must have placed at either
extreme of a marriageability continuum, ranging from "single,
dating no one person exclusively," to "married" or "engaged,

with fairly definite wedding plans."

Selection Procedure

 

Information concerning both Class and GPA were avail-
able from the grade sheets issued for all students at the
close of each school term. Thus it was possible to form
four preliminary groups of full-time women students as
follows: Senior Class, Hi GPA (n=293), and Lo GPA (n=323):
Sophomore Class, Hi GPA (n=376), and Lo GPA (n=702). By use
of a table of random numbers (Snedecor, 1946) group size was
reduced to equal that of the smallest group, Hi Seniors.

It became necessary, however, to contact women them-
selves to group them according to Marriageability. For this
purpose, a letter of introduction and a simple questionnaire
were mailed to the four groups of women. (See Appendix A.)
The number of §s in each group was again reduced, from 293
to 261, because many of the seniors had no addresses listed

in the university's Student Directory.

20

The letter introduced the project as doctoral re—
search conducted by a female graduate student in psychology
for and about women students. It requested return of the
enclosed questionnaire, and explained that many who comply
would be re-contacted to participate further via a two-hour
story-writing session.

The questionnaire asked the recipient to give her
name, address, age, year in school, and marital status.
This item, however, was elaborated from the usual ”single,
married, widowed, divorced" format to include a wider range
of single statuses. Four more alternatives were listed:

-formally engaged

-informally engaged, with fairly definite

wedding plans

-dating steadily, with no definite plans

for the future

-dating no one person exclusively

This index aimed at subdividing each of the previously-
formed four subject groups according to the extremes of the
marriageability continuum. "Hi" marriageability was designed
to include the "married" and the ”formally engaged" cate-
gories, while "low" referred to the "dating no one person
exclusively" alternative.

0f the 1,04“ questionnaires mailed, 38 were returned
because of inaccurate or insufficient address. Thirty-two
replied, indicating disinclination to participate. Many
identified themselves: some were helpful enough to give a
reason for their refusal. Three-hundred and thirty women

filled out and returned the questionnaire as directed,

indicating in the schedule provided their preference for

21

the scheduling of a two-hour story-writing session.

Twelve out of 335 women who indicated that they would
participate were above 2“ years of age. These were not in-
cluded in the study, the rationale being that women under-
graduates at age 25 and above at a school where they are
clearly in the minority can be expected to have had a
sufficiently different life experience such that grouping
them with younger undergraduates loses meaningfulness.
Also, the present research attempted comparability with
Horner's study (1968). Since her §s are described as
"...girls and boys, all undergraduates at the university
of Michigan," it is probably fair to assume that she did
not use women above the mid-twenties.

0f the 323 returns considered usable, 139 were
seniors and 18h, sOphomores. In both classes, high achieving
§s were more likely to respond. Eighty Hi GPA Seniors and
119 Hi GPA Sophomores volunteered for the story—writing
session as compared to 59 Lo GPA Seniors and 65 Lo GPA
Sophomores.

The women's responses to the Marriageability index
of the Questionnaire (Appendix A) showed that it would have
been difficult to meet the rigors of the eight group de-
sign as had been planned. Only nine Lo GPA Sophomores were
at the "hi" extreme of the Marriageability continuum. This
compared to 16 Lo GPA Seniors, 31 GPA Sophomores, and 32
Hi GPA Seniors.

22

Since an eight group equal cell design had been
planned, stratified random procedures call for the limit-
ing of cell frequencies to equal that of the smallest cell,
in this case nine. Such a drastic reduction in sample size
would have made statistical analysis of the data difficult
to interpret. Therefore, it was decided to use a four group
design and omit the Marriageability variable.

Four potential subject groups were formed, reducing
all groups to 59, the frequency of the Lo Senior group.
Thus, 236 women who had responded to the earlier question-
naire were sent a letter requesting their attendance at a
research session to be held the following week. (See
Appendix B.) Each woman was assigned to a specific group
meeting which in most cases corresponded to her previously

stated preference.

Experimental Sample

 

From the group of women students who had responded
to the Questionnaire, subsamples were drawn through a pro-
cedure which stratified according to GPA and Year in School,
such that there were 20 potential §s per cell. The mean
grade-point averages for the senior groups were as follows:
Hi, 3.61: Lo, 2.20. Comparable means for sophomores were:
Hi, 3.62: Lo, 2.17.

All §s were between the ages of 18 and 2h inclusive.
The sophomore group average age was 19.5 years; the average

of the seniors was 21.5 years. Within both classes, the

23
Hi GPA §s were several months younger than the L0 GPA §s.
Four seniors were married; all other §s were single.

The women participating represented a variety of the
curricula offered by the university. While the largest
groups were from Home Economdcs and Education (n=9 each),
together they comprised only 23% of the sample. Those §s
remaining were scattered among fields ranging from English
to Human Medicine, Television and Radio, to Agriculture.
(See Appendix C.)

Although exact data were not collected, it was ob-
served that several women attending the story-writing

sessions were black.
Measures

Incomplete Stories

 

Six incomplete stories were presented. Each was in
the form of a one-sentence description of a situation
assumed close to the experience of a college woman.

One story was identical to that used earlier by
Horner (1968). The remaining five were developed for this
study.

The Horner story reads as follows:

After first-term finals, Anne finds herself
at the top of her medical school class.

A second achievement story attempted to meet the high occu-
pational level of the Anne (medical school) story, yet be

independent of the specific aegis of the medical profession.

2h

At the end of her first year in graduate school,

Mary sees an announcement in the department

newsletter that hers is the only student re-

search project that will be funded.

Both the medical and the graduate school stories
attempted to represent masculine-oriented success situations
(ytagh). Competition with classmates, male and female, is
maximized. Also, dedication to career and life-long employ-
ment are expected. Aggressive competitiveness and a work
orientation are both at odds with the traditional feminine
sex role. Thus, the grouping of these stories as Mtagh.

The other two stories also dealt with some aspect of
a woman's achievement. One presented outstanding achievement
in professional education for teaching.

Returning to her dorm after spring break,

Judy finds that she has received a 4.5 for

student teaching.

This story attempted to exemplify a feminine-oriented success
situation (3:232). Teaching in our society is considered an
acceptable vocation for a woman. Thus, competition with men
is not so highly maximized. Further, there are no extensive
career demands, and working hours are thought to be adapt-
able to child-rearing and homemaking.

The final achievement story dealt with success within
the realm of the home-based woman.

After a busy morning of getting the children

off to school and seeing her husband off to

work, Joan opens the mail to find that she

has won the National Homemaker of the Year
Award.

2S
This story was classified also as F:agh. It was added to
be at the opposite end of the continua represented, from
career--homemaker, competitive—-non-competitive, and non-
traditional--traditional role behavior.

Two additional stories were developed to serve as
buffers in the experimental task.

Soon after her arrival on campus as a transfer

student, Marcie sees an announcement that it

is rush week for the campus sororities.

And:

Lynne finds a circular in her mailbox

announcing that the Peace Corps will be

recruiting on campus.

Both of these "neutral" stories were comparable to
the core stories of the study, the achievement stories, in
that they dealt with would-be college women receiving some
kind of news. They were added to provide variety in the
experimental task, and to make the focus of the study less
immediately apparent.

The order of presentation of the stories was as
follows: one achievement situation, one neutral, two
achievement, one neutral, one achievement.

One arrangement of the stories was made. Half the
gs responded to the stories in this order, and half re-
ceived a booklet with the order of the stories reversed.

Thus, no given story was always the first presented, yet

in all cases the first story was an achievement story.

26
The first page of each booklet contained fairly

standard TAT-type instructions (Murray, l9h3, p. 3):

Scoring

0n the following pages you will find des-
cribed several situations, each of which
might form.the basis for a story. What I
would like you to do is expand each of them
into a story.

Tell what may have led up to the current
situation. Include what the main character
is thinking and feeling. Tell what happens,
and how it all turns out. Remember that a
good story has a beginning, a middle, and an
end.

There are no "right" or "wrong" stories.

Feel free to go where your imagination takes
you.

Procedure

 

raters,

Each story had two ratings, given by two independent
the author and a female undergraduate student.1 All

identifying information was removed from the story booklets

and each was assigned a code number, to allow for "blind"

ratings, and to insure confidentiality.

M-s Scores

 

Stories were scored for M-s, operationally defined

as the expression of any negative imagery about success.

The criteria used were those presented by Horner (1968).

The following examples were given:

-negative consequences because of the success

-the anticipation of negative consequences
because of the success

-negative affect because of the success

 

rater.

1The author wishes to thank Sue Carne for serving as

27
-instrumental activity away from.present or
future success, including leaving the field
for more traditionally feminine work such
as teaching, nursing, or social work

~any direct expression of conflict about the
success

~denial of the situation described by the cue:
changing it in some way

-bizarre, inappropriate, unrealistic or non-
adaptive responses to the situation

Each story was scored for the presence or absence of
Egg, A high M:§_score reflected the expression of anxiety
about success, fear of the consequences of doing well. A
low Etg_score reflected the absence of such negative senti-

ment in the stories.

Outcome Scores

A five-point Outcome score was also used. This vari-
able attempted to reflect whether the close of the story
left the main character approaching (5) or avoiding (l) suc-
cess. The neutral point (3) was reserved for those cases in
which no outcome was provided, or where it was impossible to
determine what the main character would do with regard to the
specific situation presented.

A high Outcome score, then, reflects optimism that
all will turn out well. In the end, the heroine has inte-
grated the success into her life style. A low Outcome score
means that the stories ended with the heroine leaving or un-

doing the success presented in the verbal cue.

28
The Outcome measure was added to provide a new
dimention to the measuring of women's feelings about suc-
cess. Horner (1968) notes that bright women express Mtg,
It was of interest to observe how §s respond on the Outcome
measure. Also of importance was the relationship between
!:§_and Outcome in general, since this should give some

indication of the impact of a woman's anxiety on her

overall feelings about pursuing success.

Story Liking

 

In addition to writing six stories, each S was asked
to indicate how much she liked each of the stories. A chart
listing the name of each main character in each of the
stories, and a forced-choice format with five alternatives,
from "Strongly Like" to "Strongly Dislike" was provided.

It was of interest to explore the relationships
between Story Liking and Outcome, and Story Liking and M23.
Story Liking may provide an index of the overall attraction

of a particular success situation.

Future Plans

 

A brief space was allowed for each §_to respond to
the question, "What do you plan to be doing 10 years from

now?"

Grade-Point Average

 

Each woman was asked to provide her GPA. Thus, all

§s knew that this information was at hand for experimental

29
use. By making it available, they were giving permission

for its inclusion in the study.

Comments

The last item in the experimental booklet asked

for evaluative thoughts and comments.

Procedure

 

A booklet containing the following items was distri-
buted to each S: an instruction sheet; six pages, each
headed with an incomplete story and restated instructions:
and two pages requesting story choice, future plans, GPA,
and comments.

Seventy-four of the 80 §s studied took part in the
experimental task in groups of about 20. The remaining six
wrote in two's, or individually. For all sessions, the pro-
cedure was highly similar.

First, I introduced myself as the graduate student
who has been corresponding with them, and thanked them for
coming. They were then asked to self-address the envelopes
being distributed, so that a summary of the project's find-
ings could be mailed to them.

After the envelopes were collected, experimental
booklets were distributed in such a way that no two §§_
seated adjacently received identical booklets. Thus, no
two neighbors were writing about a particular situation

at one time.

30
Once the booklets were distributed, the following

statement was made:

As stated in the first letter you received,
all the information collected in this study
will be treated as confidential material.
If you find anything presented here to be
distasteful or not to your liking, you have
every right to decline participation. Of
course, I hope this will not be the case.
Nevertheless, I very much respect your
right to participate or not participate in
any research being carried out.

Next, the instructions were read aloud, and it was
stated that they would have about ten minutes to spend on
each story. They would receive a signal when one minute
remained, and also when to go on to the next story.

If the instructions were understood, the signal to
begin was given. All stories were timed with a stopwatch.
While it was observed that some §s used about a minute of
the second story's time to finish the first, by the third
story they were keeping up with the group.

When the story-writing was completed, S3 were told:

You are finished with the story-writing. Now

some additional information is asked of you.

I think you will find it self-explanatory.

If not, please ask. Since women tend to take

varying amounts of time with this part, you

may leave when you are finished. Again,

thank you for participating.

In leaving, a number of women remarked that they

were looking forward to finding out "what you come up with.

CHAPTER IV

RESULTS

Inter-Rater Agreement

 

Two raters working independently scored the six
stories twice: once for M:§, and once for Outcome. These
ratings were then summed for each story type, for each
variable.

Comparisons between raters on these summed scores
showed that in at least 80% of the cases, the scorings were
identical or within one point. This degree of inter-rater
agreement was considered satisfactory for the ratings to be
averaged. The mean ratings were used in the analyses of

variance.

Motive to Avoid Success

 

Average M:§ scores for Se in each experimental group
for each story type are presented in Table 1. M;§ was
higher among high achieving women, regardless of whether
they were sophomores or seniors. Little disparity was appar-

ent in the mean M-s scores as a function of Year in School.

31

32

Table 1

Mean M-s Scores for each Experimental

Group as a Function of Story Type

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year in GPA
School Hi I Io
M-ach
Soph. 1.86 l 1.70
Senior 1.9a 1.82
F-ach
Soph. 1.75 1.72
Senior 1.80 1.62
Neutral
Soph. 1.7“ 1.55
Senior 1.76 1.70

 

These data were examined through a 2 (GPA x 2 (Year
in School) x 3 (Story Type: a repeated measure) analysis of
variance (Winer, 1962, pp. 337-3h9). The results are summar-
ized in Table 2.

33

Table 2

Summary of Analysis of Variance: M-s Scores

 

 

 

 

Source of Variation 11: Sum of Mean F
Squares Square
Between §s 79 31.31
GPA 1 3.75 3.75 10.56*
Yr. in School 1 .60 .60 1.69
GPA x Yr. in School 1 0 O 0
Se within groups 76 26.96 .355
Within §s 160 32.17
Story Type 2 3.hh 1.72 9.71**
GPA x Story Type 2 .05 .025 .141
Yr. in School x
Story Type 2 .79 .395 2.23
GPA x Yr. in School
x Story Type 2 .88 .MH 2.h8
Story Type x §s
within groups 152 27.01 .177
TDZ .005
**p[_.0005

This analysis revealed a statistically significant
main effect for GPA, such that high GPA §s show more 5:2
than do Lo GPA Ss. A statistically significant main effect
was also obtained on the index of success context, Story

Type. Thus, a woman's anxiety about success varied with

3“
regard to the context of the success situation. No statis-
tical support was obtained for the notion that Year in School
influences 515.
Table 1 shows the breakdown of ng_scores for each
experimental group for each story type. The highest 5:!
scores occurred on Mtagh_stories. Less was seen on §;agh

stories, and least on Neutral stories.

Outcome Scores

 

The mean Outcome scores for each experimental group
are shown in Table 3. The sample as a whole was a fairly

optimistic group.

Table 3
Mean Outcome Scores for each Experimental

Group as a Function of Story Type

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ygzhoig ‘31“ a?! *no

M-ach

Soph. “.5“ “.91

Senior “.30 - “.56
F-ach

Soph. “.59 “.88

Senior “.51 “.65
Neutral

Soph. 3.3“ 3.71

Senior 3.21 , 2.6“

35
Within groups of both Hi and Lo GPA Ss, sophomores

W“ «m--......-
were more optimistic about success. This effect was most

“

marked among the L0 GPA sophomore Ss, who expressed the

highest degree of optimism of any  group~in the study.

”v? 0-401— *‘R. p...

—o.‘_

 

Om'nww

A second analysis of variance was performed on these

data and the results are summarized in Table “.

Table “

Summary of Analysis of variance: Outcome Scores

‘T

 

 

Source of Variation Si; Sum of Mean 11
Squares Square
Between Se 79 “38.68
GPA 1 5.10 5.10 _/_1
Yr. in School 1 29.“O 29.“0 5.668*
GPA x Yr. in School 1 10.01 10.01 1.930
Ss within groups 76 39“.18 5.187
Within Ss 160 896.0
Story Type 2 415.u6 207.73 6“.2l3**
GPA x Story Type 2 7.657 3.829 1.18“
Yr. in School
x Story Type 2 8.257 “.129 1.276
GPA x Yr. in School
x Story Type 2 8.826 “.“13 1.36“
Story Type x Ss
within groups 152 “91.8 3.235
1111 .025

*‘p1_.0001

36
This analysis revealed significant main effects for Year in
School and Story Type. Sophomores had consistently higher
Mean Outcome scores than seniors. And, with regard to Story
Type, women gave the highest Outcome scores to Szggg stor-

ies: less to M-ach, and least to Neutral stories.

Story Liking

 

The mean Story Liking Scores for each experimental

group are presented in Table 5.

Table 5
Mean Story Liking Scores for each Experimental
Group as a Function of Story Type

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year in GPA
School 31* 1 L6
M-ach
Soph. 2.92 3.65
Senior 3.60 3.80
F-ach
Soph. 3. 65 3. 70
Senior 3.15 3.50
Neutral
Soph. 3.“8 3.75
Senior 3.“0 3.60

 

Among both sophomores and seniors, 10w achieving women

had higher mean Story Liking scores than did the high achievers.

37
No disparity was apparent between the Story Liking scores of

sophomores and seniors.
The Story Liking scores were examined through a
third analysis of variance. The results of this analysis

are summarized in Table 6.

Table 6

Summary of Analysis of Variance: Story Liking

 

Source of Variation g£_ Sum of Mean ;5
Squares Square

Between Ss ‘ 79 78.60
GPA 1 5.“O 5.“0 5.619*
Yr. in School 1 .02 .02 .017
GPA x Yr. in School 1 .15 .15 .156
Ss within groups 76 73.0“ .96

Within Ss 160 92-33
Story Type 2 .19 .09 .172
GPA x Story Type 2 .81 .“0 .73
Yr. in School

x Story Type 2 6.09 3.0“ 5.5“1**

GPA x Yr. in School

 

x Story Type 2 1.71 .85 1.55
Story Type x Ss
within groups 152 83.5“ .55
‘tpg;.02

**pl .005

38
This analysis revealed a statistically significant main
effect for GPA, such that L0 GPA women had higher mean Story
Liking scores than Hi GPA women. A significant interaction
was obtained between Year in School and Story Type. Compari-
son of the mean Story Liking scores of seniors to those of
sophomores within each story type, presented in Table 5, re-
vealed a tendency for seniors to have higher Story Liking
scores than sophomores on g2§g§_stories. No marked trend
was apparent in similar comparisons of mean Story Liking

scores for F-ach and Neutral stories.

Future Plans

 

All responses to the item "What do you plan to be
doing 10 years from now?" were surveyed. Four categories
were developed to summarize the data.

Responses were placed in the "Marriage and Career"
(52) category when any combination of work and homemaking
was mentioned. Thus the term "career" was used loosely, to
encompass the range from "numerical analyst" to "clerk at a

University;' and to include full-time employment and free-

lance work.

The responses of Se who reported that they saw them-

selves as "a wife, wife and mother,‘ or "pregnant with the
second child," were grouped in the "Homemaker" (S) category.
Those which mentioned employment exclusively-~e.g., "teach-

ing high school English"--were grouped as "Careerist" (Q).

gave comments of the "can't say" variety.

sponses were grouped in a category labelled "Don't Know"

(25).

Table 7 summarizes the responses given by each ex-

perimental group.

39

In two cases, the item.was left blank.

Table 7

Future Plans Expressed by

each Experimental Group

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year in GPA
School Hi I L6
MC (n=52)
Soph. l6 l3
_j¥nior 13 10
H £m19)
Soph. 3 7
Senior 2 7
C (n=“)
Soph. 1 0
Senior 3 0
DK (n=5)
Soph. O 0
Senior 2 3

 

The majority of the participants expected to combine marriage
and employment. Less than 25% saw themselves as being solely

Three women

These five re-

“O
homemakers. Five percent mentioned "career" exclusively.

The S§_category was used exclusively by seniors: and
all whose responses were in the S_categ0ry were Hi GPA Ss.
More gs occurred among Lo GPA Ss, and more Hi GPA Ss saw
themselves as handling homemaking tasks in combination with
employment.

No appreciable change was apparent in the future
plans of women students between the sophomore and senior
years of college. The number in each class who opted for
fig, 9, and §_was approximately equal.

Table 8 presents a regrouping of Se according to
their expressed future plans. Shown here are the mean !;3,
Outcome, and Story Liking scores for each new group. Also
included is a column listing comparable means for the sample

as a whole.

Table 8
Mean M-s, Outcome, and Story Liking Scores
as a Function of Future Plans

 

 

 

MC H 0 DK Sample
(n=52) (n=19) (n=4) (n=5) (n=80)

 

5:: 1.72 1.67 1.811 1.76 1.73
Outcome “.16 “.08 3.96 “.00 “.16
Story Liking 3.3“ 3.68 3.63 3.66 3.50

 

“1

Women in the ES category were of course most
similar to the "average" S_in the study, since they were
the group most numerous. In general, they were relative-
ly anxious about success, yet felt that they would be
able to succeed at what they set out to do.

Women in the S_category expressed only slightly
less EBB than average, while their degree of optimism
(as reflected in the Outcome score) also was slightly
lower.

Women in the S group expressed more 5:3 than
average. Their Outcome scores for both Et§g§_and §:§g§
stories were the highest of all the Future Plans groups:
namely, “.7 and “.88. The mean g;§ score shown in Table 8
reflects their distaste for the Neutral stories. Mean Out-
come score for the S group on the Neutral stories was 2.3,
and the mean Story Liking score was 3.25. Both were the
lowest obtained for all Future Plans groups.

Women in the qugroup were also slightly more
anxious about success than average, but their mean Out-
come scores were comparatively lower.

Mean Story Liking scores of women in the !S_cate-
gory tended to be somewhat lower than the overall average
of 3.5: whereas, comparable means for women in S, S, and
25 categories all were higher, and relatively similar.
While again this was a post hoc comparison with the

“2
unequal groups, nevertheless, the tendency for women in
these groups to respond that they liked the stories more

than £9 women was marked.

CHAPTER V

DISCUSSION

Motive to Avoid Success

 

Negative imagery about success (M-s) was expressed

by all Ss on several of the six stories. Hi GPA women ex-

.--,,1— ”m"

pressed significantlngpremanxie y aboutmsugcess than Lo

"rmmfi-m-‘

 

 

GPA women .

Meg... _

For the college woman with a high GPA, the possi-

 

bilities for succeeding are everpresent. By definition, the
high achieving woman is one who has continually involved her-
self in competitive situations and won. Because she is
bright, she is aware both intellectually and experiential-
ly of the taboos of the culture. Having performed well
academically, she has been encouraged to pursue her educa-
tion. This has meant choosing and preparing for a career.

However, the media and the culture they represent

¥

 

_.. _. ._. - .1- . amen-mu. _ s- h“... 90"fi-anr “mamfiflu

challenge, if not openly deplore, a woman's meaningful

.~

—_—.—— “*IQ-Oww

career involvement outside the home. Television commercials

—--'- WWWwW.u-am

 

 

 

 

express concern that the working wife will not be able to
express her love for her family through well-prepared meals.
Her laundry may be less superbly clean and sweet-smelling
than that of her neighbor. What the commercials fail to re-

flect is that many families cannot have that washer-dryer
unit without the wife's employment; and, further, that many

“3

““

loving mothers in one-parent homes spend their limited off-
hours at the laundramat, where the emphasis is simply on
getting the job done.

In a much-read book of the sixties, Betty Friedan
(1963) likened the discrepancy between the reality of
women's lives and the image to which they are trying to con-
form to a "schizophrenic split."

Conflict is heightened for the high-achieving woman.
It is not surprising that when presented the possibility of
being awarded a “.5 in student teaching, or a highly-sought
research grant, high-achievers respond with anxiety. Through-
out their educational careers, they have been encouraged to
perform with distinction. Yet, when faced with actualizing
their potential vis-a-vis the world of work, they are cau-
tioned that the male ego is frail, that men cannot stand the
stress of competition with women of ideas and actions.
Given that there is no status for women in our society come

J #MMM n‘ — MM“
parable to that of "confirmed bachelor," women have good

w WW3— I‘m. In—gfix-fi— "-1 w _‘

 

 

 

 

r—v—

reason to be anxious about success. Rather than do battle

f’”ww.flm WMWM t”
with these cultural imperatives, it is far more usual for

'F ---v.e-... ..

high achieving women to opt to avoid success, and to feel
guilty that they "haven't made much of themselves."

For the L0 GPA woman, success is less routine. In
her pattern of low achievement in college, there may be
operating a combination of factors. It is likely that she
is less gifted than her classmate with a 3.6 cumulative

“5
average. However, she may also be expressing behaviorally
a reluctance to engage herself in competition, and deal
with its accompanying stresses. Such an attempt at the
resolution of conflict through the inhibition of intense
competitive strivings for academdc excellence has been noted
by Kagan (196“).

Statistical analysis also indicated that Story Type
is relevant to the discussion of 535, Such a finding is in
keeping with Atkinson's notion that the context of the suc-
cess situation is an important factor in analyzing achieve-
ment motivation (Atkinson, 196“).

A ranking of the means revealed the highest anxiety
to have been generated by gtggglstories, less by 3:222.
stories, and least by the "control" or Neutral stories.

Thus, there is a tendency for women to respond with con-

w‘wfim 1‘..- .___,fl__

 

flict when presented masculine-oriented achievement situa-

'."'“ 1W Nw—v'w—O “”0”" “R "' use; n“.

W
tions. Further, both of these conditions aroused more Mes
Mm-

than did the Neutral or control stories.
This trend is in keeping with Horner's notion that

anxiety about success is culturally conditioned in women,

“I'm—1n. nus-en“
no on "r-fifi" om or. .W'ww‘wm‘m-w'
-vaswu - 0-

such that they are encouraged not to enter traditionally

'— ~MWI Wr""‘"." 114‘..th .
‘-
My“

masculine-oriented professions. The present study elaborated

 

 

a—wm-rw rm (In.

(flwfl_g,_1
on this hypothesis by supplying evidence for the corollary
that women will feel less conflicted about such traditionally

feminine endeavors as teaching and homemaking.

46

However, it should be noted that these comments are
based only on a ranking of means, and, as such, must be
considered speculative.

The relationship between Year in School and gtg_did
not reach statistical significance; the difference in means
was negligible. It may be that one's year in school is a
temporary identity which does not strongly influence one's
long-term achievement strivings and the accompanying anx-
ieties. Rather, these anxieties are present to an equal
extent in both sophomores and seniors, suggesting that by
the sophomore year in college women have already been res-
ponding to these issues. Same degree of resolution has been
attained, and this balance remains relatively unchanged
through the college years.

The !:g_data obtained in the present study supported
Horner's contention that "honors" women experience height-
ened anxiety about success (Horner, 1968). This is true
despite some important differences in design.

Horner's §s were "predominantly freshmen," as com-
pared to the stratified random sample of sophomores and
seniors used in the present study. She used a captive
audience, in that participation in her experiment was pre-
sented as a course requirement, whereas the present study
relied on volunteers. It is of value to note further that
Horner's study employed a male experimenter. This was in

contrast to the female §_used in the present design. And,

47

finally, some mention should be made of the replication

of findings across universities. While it is difficult to
make precise statements on such issues, I think it would be
acknowledged that the intellectual climates of the Univer-
sity of Michigan and Michigan State are sufficiently diverse
as to warrant mention. 0. of M. has a reputation for having
high entrance requirements, and for being extremely competi-
tive academically. MgS.U. has a more open stand on admis-
sions, and the intellectual atmosphere tends to be more

relaxed.

Outcome Scores

 

Outcome scores for all §s tended to be fairly high.
The relationship between Outcome and Year in School reached
statistical significance, such that sophomores had higher
Outcome scores than seniors.

It is not surprising that sophomore somen were more

‘-_,_"..- -o- ~—.—~ 9-.
4...” -

positive about how everything would turn out. Fotr them,

.——-‘.-o—. n.-

W“ NW4-.." "" ”"' “"‘ " ..-.- mu - . ______ -
post-college life was still safely "the future. " While

‘1‘” ~.,-.,_.,
. o-v. -.. -—
'---l- pma‘

there may have been some stress awaiting, for the most part
graduation was seen as a wide line dividing college life
and "the world." All possible future plans were positively
tinged. The senior, on the other hand, was closer to that
line, and realized it isn't nearly as substantive as she'd
thought. She realized, reluctantly, that if she were not
married or engaged, she was expected to go to graduate

school or get a Job.

#8

One may further speculate that this disparity in the
Outcome scores of sophomores when compared to those of
seniors may reflect the impact of the women's liberation
movement. There have been stirrings to lead the college
woman to feel that by the time she has to take on the world,
societal pressures will have eased. The sophomore may have
been optimistic that there would be more support for her to
depart from traditional goals than there has been for her
older sister.

A statistically significant relationship between
Outcome and Story Type was also found. Mean Outcome scores
revealed a tendency for §s to be most optimistic about the
possibilities for incorporating success in traditionally
feminine achievement situations, into their futures. They
were next optimistic about traditionally masculine achieve-
ment situations. The Neutral situations ranked lowest.
This trend may reflect the social desirability of success
in traditionally feminine achievement situations. However,
the fact that mean Outcome scores for both masculine and
feminine achievement situations were both high and fairly
similar would caution against overinterpretation. In this
case, a narrow interpretation of this main effect is more
appropriate; namely, that the specific achievement context
of the success situation is a factor in the degree of op-
timism or pessimism expressed.

No significant relationship was obtained between

GPA and Outcome, neither as a main effect nor in any of

l*9

the situations examined, except where considered in inter-
action with Year in School. Then it was found that GPA was
significantly related to Outcome among sophomores. Thus it
may be that among sophomores, achievement strivings operate
to enhance the overall mood of optimdsm seen in sophomores
as a group. But, in general, women's optimism or pessimism
seems only partly related to their feelings about achievement.

To explore this relationship in more detail, the
correlations between 5:2 and Outcome for each story type
were obtained. The results suggested that the relationship
between anxiety about success and optimism varies with the
degree of anxiety experienced. As shown in Table 3, most
anxiety was expressed on Etggh_stories; a moderate amount
was seen for §;agh stories. Least was evoked by Neutral
stories. Under conditions inducing a fairly high degree of
anxiety, as the anxiety increased, !;§_accounted for a small

but important decrease in optimism; r(N-ach) ”-8 x Outcome:

 

—.251, pl.05. Under conditions of moderate anxiety (3:33h),
there was little relationship between anxiety and optimism;
r= -.112. Within a fairly low level of anxiety, !;g_also
accounted for a small amount of the change in Outcome;
r(Neutral)= -.325, p1.01.

One possible interpretation is that the anxiety which
women feel about success in traditionally masculine success
situations is more likely to influence them to turn away
from success than is the anxiety they feel about §:§gh_situa-

tions. In F-ach situations, rejecting success is tantamount

50
to an alienation from one's identity as a female. It is
possible for a woman to accept success in traditionally
feminine endeavors without being overjoyed. Little threat
is engendered. However, the threat induced by success in

M-ach_situations produces an anxiety which does press for

 

a resolution in the form.of moving away from success.

In general, it may be stated that !;g is one factor
in determdning a woman's projection of how she will react to
success. However, the magnitude of the correlations sug-
gests that there are other important factors which await

recognition.

Story Liking

 

The tendency for low achieving women to have been
more accepting of the stories, and more positive in their
ratings of them seems related to the finding that Lo GPA
women had less anxiety about success than Hi GPA women. In
other words, since the task stimulated less anxiety in them,
it is understandable that they could say they enjoyed the
task. Also, being less involved in academics, they would
have had a tendency to be less critical of the experimental
task.

On the other hand, Hi GPA §s may have had several
reasons for being less accepting. It is true that they
found the task anxiety-arousing. However, the arousal of
anxiety in itself may not have been perceived as entirely

negative. This is substantiated by the low positive

51
correlations between !;g_and Story Liking: r(!:§gh)= .185;
r(§:§gh}= .06; r(Neutral)= .29h. The only correlation to
have reached statistical significance occurred for the
Neutral stories (p1.01), which evoked the least anxiety of
the three story types. Again, it appears that within a
range of low levels of anxiety, as anxiety increased, Story
Liking also increased. Other factors might have been
operating as well. Perhaps, Hi GPA women are more dis-
crimdnating in general, such that they were critical of
the verbal cues. They may also have found the task less
able to hold their interest throughout the experimental
session.

The configuration of findings which emerged lends
itself to speculation about the possibility that patterns
of high and low achievement among college women may actual-
ly represent two different modes of coping with feelings of
anxiety about success. Perhaps the low achiever tells her-
self that the world is rosy, that anything is possible for
a woman if she puts her mind to it. The reason she is not
planning for a career, she may rationalize, is that she is
not smart enough. (One must realize, however, that males
with identical grades don't see as a viable alternative
staying home and being "househusbands.") Hence, the low
achiever expressed less §;§_than her high achieving counter-

part.

52

Lo GPA §s also were more accepting of the stories,
and the experimental situation as a whole. Further, sopho-
more §s with low GPAs expressed more optimism than did those
whose GPAs indicated that they were high achievers. Again
we have the picture of the passive, acquiescing, non-
discriminating female who is not anxious about success in
college because it really is not all that important to her.
Notice that among all the women in the study, seniors were
less optimistic about success than sophomores. This shift
in attitude was more marked among Lo GPA Ss. Perhaps, by
the senior year, faced with the success of graduation, this
defensive facade of low achievement and denial wears thin.

No differences were obtained as a function of story
type on the measure of Story Liking, except in interaction
with Year in School. The finding that seniors had signi-
ficantly higher scores on gzagh_situations than sophomores
may indicate that seniors welcomed the opportunity to think
about such possibilities. The opportunity for seniors to
engage themselves in E:agh_situations was far closer to
reality for the seniors than it was sophomores; whereas,
such was not the case in both §:agh_and Neutral situations.

In attempt to understand what the Story Liking
scores were measuring, correlations were obtained between
Story Liking and Outcome. The findings were as follows:
r(!t§gh)- -.02; r(§:ggh)= .012; r(Neutral)= .1h7. Thus

it would seem that the Story Liking score as used here

53
does not tap optimism. Further, it only minimally re-
flects 5:3, Possibly, Story Liking, as used in this study,
tapped a willingness to involve oneself in the experimental
task, and a receptivity to discussing the conflicts aroused
at this level of study. Whether Lo GPA §s were actually
more "open" and less defensive about their feelings about

success is another issue.

Marriageability

 

The number of engaged or married undergraduate women
who responded that they might be able to participate was so
small that the Marriageability variable could not be studied
as planned. There were several indications as to why this
occurred.

A fair number of the women who declined wrote,
saying that they were too busy. Often, they held a job,
some in addition to home and child-care responsibilities.
Some objected to the fact that they would not be paid. One
noted that if she could be reimbursed for transportation to
and from her home, a distance of some 80 miles, she would
make the trip. A general trend was that the "highly
marriageable women" as a group experienced numerous demands
on their time, and here was one demand they were able to

decline.

5h

Future Plans

 

The exclusive use of the 25 category on the part
of seniors (as shown in Table 8) may reflect the fact that
graduation was bringing "the future" up close. Their re-
sponses may have had a stronger note of realism than those
of sophomores. It may have been harder for them to res-
pond that they would be homemaking when no prospect of
husband was in sight.

The exclusive use of the §_category by Hi GPA §s
was probably good reality testing-~or a self-fulfilling
prophecy. Certainly, careers are more open to women who
have outstanding academic backgrounds.

The tendency for most gs to have Lo GPAs is feasible.
The woman with a relatively poor academic record probably
does not feel particularly competent in regard to the world
of work. The consideration should be allowed that she may
not feel terribly happy about homemaking, either. But, it
is easier for her to slide into getting married and raising
a family than to pursue employment.

In light of the significant main effect obtained for
GPA on the !:§_data, it appears that while Hi GPA §s evi-
denced considerable anxiety about success, they also saw
themselves as pursuing it.

The findings that most §s stated that they intended
to combine marriage and employment, and that there was rela-

tively little change in their thinking between the sophomore

55

and senior years of college, are conceptually related.
Host obvious is the fact that all the women in the sample
were "achievers." In some ways, the categorization of Hi
GPA and Lo GPA is misleading. Any woman who is at least a
sophomore in college has demonstrated academic ability and
personal competence, and a need to achieve.

Also, all the women in this study have been sub-
jected to the "socialization" referred to by Hillett (1970)
in her discussion of ideological bases for Sexual Politics.

They have learned the ...highly elaborate code of conduct,

gesture, and attitude... appropriate to the feminine sex
role, as well as what is taboo (Hillett, 1970, p. 26).
Through the process of identification, they have learned
that to feel good about themselves, to feel worthwhile as
human beings, they must get married; and, in most cases,
have children. Departure from the internalized role model
results in guilt, anxiety, and self-censure. Finally, if
there are biological drives to reproduce, they feel them.

Given these needs and presses, then, it seems under-
standable that the majority of the women in this study gave
Future Plans responses in the !§_category; and, that the
Future Plans responses of sophomores and seniors were not
appreciably different.

The analysis of !;§, Outcome, and Story Liking
scores according to expressed future plans is presented

mainly as a means for generating hypotheses. With so few

§s in each of several groups, no real conclusions can be

56
drawn. However, the opportunity for comparing projective
data with overtly stated plans should not be overlooked.
Therefore, the following speculations are offered.

A possible interpretation of the finding of high
gkg_and high Outcome scores among g_women is that women who
see themselves employed ten years hence, who do not mention
marriage and family in their future plans, may tend to be
more anxious than average about success. However, they are
also more optimistic that all will turn out well. Thus,
they are making their anxiety work for them. One possible
drawback to their solution is that they are meeting their
achievement needs through the suppression of culturally
based emotional desires for home and family.

A possible interpretation of the finding of low !;§,
high Outcome among §_women is that women who have opted for
a life of homemaking have reduced their anxiety about suc-
cess by deciding to avoid it, enabling them to feel that a
woman can do anything she wants; the world is wide open.
However, they are dealing with their conflict through the
suppression of achievement needs.

The finding of a moderate degree of §:§_coupled with
a low mean Outcome score among the Q§_group may suggest that
women who are uncertain about their future plans are exper-
iencing a fair degree of anxiety, and are relatively pessi-
mistic that they can succeed. They have not been able to

resolve their conflict via commitment to a given life style.

57

There was a tendency for §_and g_women to have
higher Story Liking scores than !§_women. One possible
interpretation is that women in the 59 group may be more
actively aware of the need to maintain a balance between
achievement needs and the pulls of home and children. Thus,
most elements of the conflict are conscious. Women in the
g and 9 groups may be coping with the conflict throughout
the use of defense mechanisms, welcoming the chance to re-
work and re-repress. Hence, the higher Story Liking scores.

The Q§_women are similar to the §_and §_women, in
that they cannot express either set of needs. This results

in a similarly high Story Liking score.

Story Content

 

While the present study attempted to measure quanti-
tatively the issues involved in women's feelings about suc-
cess, it should also be noted that the incomplete story
method provides data which are qualitatively rich. To ex-
plore the subjective meaning of the verbal cues, it seemed
appropriate that a brief analysis of story content be pre-
sented. Obviously, there are many pitfalls to such an
approach. One reader's summary may differ markedly from
that of the next, in that what seemed noteworthy to one
might be ignored by another. Nevertheless, the following
discussion is offered in hopes of communicating some idea

of what the stories were like.

58

M-ach Stories

Identification with the father was a frequent theme

of the M-ach stories.

and

Anne admired her father greatl , he was an
eyes-ears-nose and throat (sic‘ specialist
and Anne wanted to follow in his footsteps,
taking the place a son would have taken.

Her father (now deceased) had always been the
neighborhood's physician, and she had always
wanted to live up to his ideals. Ever since
she had been knee-high to a grasshopper she
had been at her father's office--cleaning,
watching, imitating.

It was mainly her father's influence and en-
couragement that helped her to decide to go
into medicine...

Anne had always been an industrious girl.
Her father, a doctor, used to say, "My
Anne will go far!"

However, the relationship with mother was not as

gratifying. Hbm was perceived as being less supportive.

And, in

Somehow, after talking to Mom.about [her
success], Anne feels as though those ten
weeks were just spent marking time and the
future holds only more of the same.

another instance:

...her mother, although pleased with Anne's
grades, wonders whether or not Anne has
chosen a field (major)which will allow her
to marry and raise a family.

The departure from a woman's traditional role by

being successful in a man's world was seen as having painful

consequences, both internal and external.

59

...after her elation at getting fantastic
grades, she found she wasn't very happy or
satisfied. She had so far gotten little
else out of college life besides grades.
She hadn't made many friends or had any new
experiences. In fact, even the kids in her
medical school class hated her for raising
the curve.

She is a loner, and in being No. 1, she has
only succeeded in becoming more alone. She
has become tense and unhappy in her work.
Going at her present pace, Anne may soon
find that she is headed for a breakdown.

Now that she was in college she found her-
self putting herself in the place of a
social outcast. Her friends wanted her to
do things with them but she stuck to her
studies. She was proud, but also very
socially frustrated.

The long-term consequences of Anne's success varied with her
ability to satisfy what was perceived as a woman's needs for
marriage and family.

Anne was fairly lonely, but she was deter-
mined to please her parents....Since she was
well adjusted she is now an M.D. special-
izing in pediatrics. She never did marry,
though. She loved humanity, but not people.

Anne continues to achieve good grades, grad-
uates near the top of her class, and at
graduation becomes engaged to a fellow
classmate.

And the top is a damn lonely place....She
ends up at the top of the whole heap, goes
into practice, and kills herself at the age
of thirty-one with some of those drugs she
learned about back in the chem. building

at good old N.S.U.

It is the rare story which leaves the main character content

with no mention of marriage.

medical

60

In the future Anne will specialize her
field (sic) and go on to be one of the most
highly acknowledged and hard working doc-
tors in the country.

Anne had just shown herself and everyone
else that there is plenty of room at the top
for determdned, hard working, capable pro-
fessional women.

Several instances were presented in which Anne left

school for marriage.

Anne enrolls for Co-ed Social Dance the next
term. She falls in love with her dance part-
ner and quits school to get married.

Ten years later, Anne and her husband were
introduced at a party-~"Here is the famous
Dr. Halstead. And this is his wife Anne.
She bakes the best apple pies."

In the following story, the author was more explicit about

possible effects of dropping out of school to get married.

In 15 years, he is very successful. She is
just a housewife. Relations with him.deter-
iorate and she commits suicide. She felt
she could no longer tolerate her jealousy
for him for a position she could have held.

In very few instances, the author presented Anne as

having been able to combine marriage successfully with her

career 0

And:

Anne is now a full-fledged doctor and is
very happy. She has a husband who too is
a doctor. One day they are planning to
start a family.

After she graduated she specialized in pedia-
trics and did very well even though she got
married too. After the children came along,
she had to give up her practice for awhile
but soon she was able to pick it up again
partime. Anne realized her goal very well.

61

F-ach Stories

 

Identification with the mother was a frequent theme
of the F-ach stories.

Jean comes from a big family and has always
had a lot of the housekeeping responsibili-
ties to deal with. . . Joan has found real
fulfillment and happiness in her role as
homemaker for Tom and the kids.

Although elements of the relationship may be lacking, there
seems to be a common factor of gratification from following
in mother's footsteps.

(Joan) knew that her mother had nominated
her... The contest had been sponsored by
one of her mother's many "women's" maga-
zines. Joan had no patience with them at
all---in a world torn with strife, hunger,
poverty, and war---these magazines cared
only for baking a better meatloaf...

Jean called her mother to tell her the
"good" news...

"National Homemaker of the Year": Wouldn't

her mother die: She had always said that

Jean would make a lousy housewife.

In both stories, while daughter experienced alienation from
mother's values, the daughter still anticipated telling of
the honor.

Several stories expressed concern about possible
negative consequences having ensued from the acceptance of
the award.

(Her husband) was surprised but glad that

Jean turned down many of the public appear-

ance offers she received. Both reasoned

that the children were still young, and

Joan found to her surprise she had no de-
sire for any different life.

62

The award, however, became a great burden...
She was expected to travel a great deal, and
to leave her husband and children for weeks
at a time. Of course, the prestige was
alluring, but Joan felt that she would rather
be Hrs. Diamond than National Homemaker. She
eventually played the whole thing down, feel-
ing that it took too much time away from her
original interest---her family.

It is difficult to understand what it was about this
success that had to be avoided. It may be simply that it
signified a departure from passivity.

Another recurring theme was that of the "joke." Here

the husband sent the bogus "award."

...isn't he a dear. He knows I've been de-
pressed lately. He always does the right
thing to cheer me up.

Jean didn't exactly qualify for so high a
distinction....but...she realized her hus-

band was "up to his tricks" again, and was
cheered...

In another instance, Mother was the perpetrator.
Her mother burst into fits of hysterical
laughter. "You didn't really believe that,
did you, Joanie?"
Some stories presented Jean as unfulfilled despite

the honor.
(Jean) is not really proud of her award. She
knows her husband will be very proud of her
but she still feels inadequate, unsatisfied
and jealous of his daily opportunity to get
away from.the rut.

Also noticed was an undercurrent of hostility toward
the husband which ran through many of the stories, though

seldom overtly.

63

(Jean) just had to prove to herself she
wasn't as bad as her husband, Chuck, said
she was...She didn't even tell Chuck when
she won...laybe she'd just keep the money
and not say a word. Besides it would be
fun to shock the pants off of him when he
saw her picture in the paper...

Her husband could not understand her excite-

ment until she told him that the prize in-

cluded a trip to Europe. This would be

their first vacation in years.

It is possible that the jokes and depression mentioned in
earlier examples were all ways of trying to keep the hostil-
ity hidden.

Finally, there were a considerable number of ex-
amples where the heroine felt very happy and receptive of
the success.

Needless to say, it made her day, and she had

finally gained the recognition everyone felt

she deserved so much.

Jean is very proud...and is doing what she has
always wanted to do--be a good wife and mother.

Jean is quite pleased to receive the Award...

it made her feel important as a mother, wife,
community leader and person.

Neutral Stories

 

The non-success situation did not seem to arouse the
feelings that the success stories did. As a whole, the
stories tended to be less impassioned. A common theme seems
to be that the main character thought about the situation
presented, decided to give it a try, and rejected it on
well-thought-through grounds.

614

In the sorority story, one almost had the feeling
that what was being asked was something like, "Do you like
spinach?" The answers ranged from "never touch it" to
"yes, I think it's great."

Some women mentioned the need to make friends, with
sorority providing structure and security.

In the end, she decided to remain independent

and face the challenge of USU without bene-

fit of a security group.

Sometimes the story focused on boyfriends and the
importance of such relationships.

One year later she was pinned to a guy from

a fraternity. They would make a very well-

matched couple.

The notion of little conflict being expressed is
typified by this example.

She has never been very interested in sorori-

ties so she just forgets about it. Marcie

decided to get a job in the dorm cafeteria

to occupy her time.

I'm not gonna join a hypocritical sorority if

I have to spend the rest of my days alone.

So she didn't rush. And she lived happily

ever after.

It was the rare story which mentions the opportunity
to be rejected.

Quiet and sensitive, she is ever so deeply
hurt by something completely unnecessary.

Finally, there is the story of the girl who found

her niche.

65

Marcie is a real joiner...She is finally
matched with the sorority she wants and
through them meets many more people and
is active in many projects.

CHAPTER VI

CONCLUSIONS

Critique

While considerable care was taken in selection of Ss,
in retrospect, some possibly important deficiencies in the
procedure used must be noted. First, a limitation in the
generality of the conclusions which can be drawn from the
data was enforced by the use of the University Director as
the means of identifying potential Ss. Those students able
to list addresses at registration tend to be the more tra-
ditional. Students returning in the fall with no definite
place to live tend to be more adventuresome and carefree,
and perhaps less responsible.

In several instances, the Questionnaire (Appendix A.)
further tended to eliminate the more unconventional women.

In requesting information about marital status, the study
identified itself too strongly with establishment biases by
giving no mention of less traditional liasons, such as
"living together" arrangements.

Also, the introductory letter referred to the poten-
tial §s as "girls." Most females involved in the women's
liberation cause would have been alienated by such an appella-

tion.

66

67

Thus, the generality of the findings presented here
must be limited by the realization that the women studied
came from a fairly conservative sector of the population of
college females. A future project might focus on studying
sex-role conflict within a less traditional setting, such as
the commune. The results of such a study would give some
indication of whether or not the conflict changes with ex-
ternal living arrangements.

Difficulty was also apparent in the request for the
woman's year in school on the Questionnaire (Appendix A.).
By providing a forced-choice format, women who were a term
out of sequence but who otherwise might have qualified
eliminated themselves. Some responded saying that they
couldn't participate because they were freshmen, or what—
ever. It can be inferred that a fair number felt they had
received the mailing erroneously, and that because they
were not "sophomores or seniors" they did not respond.
Obviously, all year levels should have been listed.

Bias may have been introduced by the signing of
correspondence with the title "Hrs." Experimenter effect
(Rosenthal, 1958) may have prompted §§ to respond to the
Future Plans item by opting for marriage and employment
out of an unconscious need for approval. Or, having a
married female graduate student as a communicator (Cohen,
196h) may have influenced §s at an even earlier stage of S
selection such that women interested in career or home-

making exclusively may have felt put off. Regardless, the

‘wrrrtndw. "bl. arm
..'
fl

1

68
E's title is of course an important issue which should be
considered more carefully in future research design.

However, the most serious criticism of this study
is that the Harriageability variable was not investigated.
The reasons for the difficulty in obtaining §s with certain
characteristics are not completely clear. Indeed, it is
probable that highly marriageable women have less free time.
However, they obviously are people who manage to accomplish
a great deal in spite of their many responsibilities; so
one must question why they found it so easy to refuse.

It may be that the topic touched a sensitive area,
one which the women were reluctant to have probed. Not
mutually exclusive is the thought that women who are married
or very nearly so hold a closer identity with married women
than with college women. If this were the case, they would
tend to feel they had little to contribute that would "fit";
i.e., meet with the gjs expectations and approval.

Some support for this explanation was given by the
returns from women over age 25. Several expressed concern
that their views might not be relevant or worthwhile; for
example, what does a 33-year-old mother of three have to
say that would be important. Perhaps some of the younger
married women also felt this alienation.

The main inference to be drawn, however, is that the
incentives of the present study were not sufficient for the
married woman to participate. Of necessity, future research

would need to provide different incentives. Payment for

69
participation should be considered. Another kind of letter
might be used, geared to an exploration of the demands
facing the young college wife. Hewever, a preliminary
speculation is that the recently married college woman is
dealing with much through isolation and repression. If such
is the case, she will not respond to a direct approach. A

more veiled discussion of the project might be necessary.

Future Research

 

Since the study suggests that there is no significant
change in women's concern about success between the sophomore
and senior years, it would be interesting to study these same
issues among adolescents. Stories might be collected from
a Girl Scout troop or possibly a high school club or soror-
ity.

A provocative study has been reported (Weston and
Hednick, 1970) since the inception of this project. The
authors noted no differences in 5:9. as a function of social
class. They also explored inter-college differences by
using samples at two universities. Examining groups of
black and white females, they found blacks to express signi-
ficantly less §;s_than their white counterparts.

Thus it would seem that the area of women's feelings
about success has begun to be explored. It is hoped that

more tenacious souls will follow.

70

Integration of Findings

 

Horner's postulate (1968) that there exists in women
a motive to avoid success, operationally defined as "the

expression of negative imagery about success, is supported
by the findings of this study. The college women who parti-
cipated seemed to be operating from the frame of reference
that one should feel some degree of discomfort with all
success.

This may reflect a socio-religious point of view,
the so-called Protestant ethic; i.e., the notion that one
should be modest and undeserving. However, it does not ex-
plain why this phenomenon is so much more prevalent among
women than men (Horner, 1969). Possibly, this "rejection"
of success has more to do with the cultural expectation of
passivity in the female role (de Beauvoir, 1953; willett,
1970). Thus, it would be unfemdnine to feel happy about
personal success, even in stereotypically feminine endeavors.

More revealing, however, is the finding that some
successes are more universally intolerable than others.
Those arousing the most conflict are the result of involve-
ment in non-traditionally feminine endeavors, where competi-
tion is maximized. This is especially true of the high
achieving college woman who, by definition, has the greatest
likelihood of pursuing such goals. Basically, no change

occurs in the amount of anxiety about success expressed

while in college. If anything, some studies suggest that

71
college tends to have an effect on personal values such
that seniors are more similar to one another than fresh-
men (Halka, 1968). It is likely that this influence is
"traditionalizing," which in this instance would pressure
high achieving women to concern themselves with getting
married.

In general, the women surveyed tended to believe
that women will be able to integrate success into the main-
stream of their lives. However, this was more true of
sophomores, who still have not experienced the stress of
graduation.

Finally, responses to the Future Plans item.1ead to
the speculation that there is a tendency for the woman who is
trying to do something other than involve herself in the
"marriage and part-time job" arrangement--which has been
emerging for educated women in the past 20 years-~to feel
the need to rethink and rework her decision. She is de-
parting from the expected and she is experiencing heightened
stress.

It could be that the next 20 years will see women
become more dissatisfied with their lot in general. As
homemaking comes to be seen as less fulfilling and less
worthy, all those women wanting to have a family and also
go to work are going to be demanding good quality child-
care and more help with the housework. The market for
floor wax may decline as women challenge the ethic that a

spotless house is the royal road to inner peace and

72
contentment.

To have impact on lessening the stress inherent in
achievement for a woman, inroads must be made far earlier
than college. Since upon entering high school students
often are forced to decide among college preparatory,
business, and home economics majors, it would seem that
the decision-making process must take place in earlier
grades.

The most significant need is for the presence of
appropriate female role models in the professions, and in
high level positions in government and business. The ab-
sence of such figures has made it necessary for women to
repress their "femininity" and emotional/sexual needs in
order to achieve. Those who have been unsuccessful at the
repression often have been unable to face societal pressures
and pursue their careers. In large part, those who have
succeeded career-wise have been the angrily competitive
intellectualized females so often caricatured.

It is hoped that the ferment of the present times
will encourage women who have achieved some measure of inte-
gration of roles to come forth and be visible, to share
their experiences and encourage others. This may enable
women of the future to experience commitment to competence
without the guilt and pain of their predecessors.

It should be noted in closing that emphasis on the
problems of women will no doubt result in a heightened

awareness of the difficulties faced by men in our culture.

73
Perhaps the next years will lead to an increased openness
to dealing with the "masculine" and the "feminine" in us
all.

El.

no," ,.
1J5

 

 

 

LIST 01“ REFERENCES

CHAPTER VII

LIST OF REFERENCES

Atkinson, J. W. .An_Introduction to Motivation. New York:
van Nostrand, 196E.

Beauvoir, Simone De. The Second Sex. New York: Alfred A.
mopr’ 1953 0

Brown, D. G. Sex-role development in a changing culture.
Psychological Bulletin. 1958. 55, 232-2h2.

 

Christensen, H. Lifetime family and occupational role
projections of hi h school students. .lanziagg_ang,

Fgggly Living, 19 l. g;, 181-183.

Cohen, A. R. Attitude change and social influence. New
York: Basic Books, 19 .

Ellis, Evelyn. Social psychological correlates of social
mobility among unmarried career women. American

Sociological Review, 1952, 11, 558-563.

Friedan, Betty. W. New York: W. W.
Nerton, 1963.

Heilbrun, A. B. Sex-role identity and achievement motiva-
tion. Psychological Reports, 1963, lg, u83-h90.

Horner, Matina. Sex differences in achievement motivation
and performance in competitive and non-competitive
situations. Unpublished doctoral dissertation,
University of Michigan, 1968.

Horner, Matina. Woman's will to fail. Psychology Today,
Nov.. 1969. p. 36.

Hagan, J. Acquisition and significance of sex-typing and
sex role identity. In: M. Hoffmann and L. Hoffmann
(Eds.), Review of Child Development Research. New
York: RussEIl Sage FSundation, 196R, Pp. 137-167.

Kalka, B. S. A comparative study of feminine role concepts
of a selected6groug of college women. Dissertation
Abstracts, l9 , g_, 4822A. ~

Kosa, J. and Coker, R. E., Jr. The female physician in pub-
lic health: conflict and reconciliation of the sex

and professional roles. Sociology and Social Re-
aearChs 1965: 32 (3): 29u-3050

7h

 

75
Lewis, E. C. Counselors and girls. Jo n 1 f C 1-
ing Psychology, 1965, _l_g (2), 159-166. "1 1 u__
Lesser, G. 3.: Krawitz, R.; and Packard, R. Experimental
arousal of achievement motivation in adolescent
girls. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology,
1963. Q6759 ~66.

Lipinski, Beatrice G. Sex-role conflict and achievement
motivation in college women. Dissertation
Abstracts, 1966, g§_(7), 4077.

Moss, H. A. and Hagan, J. Stability of achievement and “a
recognition seeking behavior from early childhood ‘

through adulthood. Jourgfil of Abngrggl and Social g' a!
W. 1961. fig. 5 -513. .

Millett, Kate. Sexual Politics. New York: Avon Books,
1970. f“

Mulvey, Mary Crowley. Psychological and socilogical factors
in prediction of career patterns of women. Genetic
ngcholggz_Monographs. 1963, §§, 309-316.

lhrray, H. A. Thematic A rce tion Test Manual. Cambridge,
Mass.: Hirvara UthersIty Press, 1933.

Rosenthal, R. Note on the fallible E. Psychological Reports,
1958, 3, 662.

 

 

 

 

 

Sanford, N. Developmental status of the entering freshman.
In: N. Sanford Ed.) , The American College. New
Yerk: Wiley, 19 2.

 

SnedecorfirG. W. Statistical Methods. Iowa State College
ass, 19

Solnit, A. J.; Settlage, C. F.; Goodman, 3.; and Blos, P.
Youth unrest: ymposium. American Journal of

A s
Psychiatry. 1969, 132(9), 1115:1159.

Steinmann, Ann; Levi, J.; and Fox, D. Self conceptions of
college educated women as compared with their con-
cept of ideal women and men's ideal woman. Journal
of Counseling Psychology, 1964, 11_(h), 370-373.

Sundheim, B. J. The relationship among "n" achievement, "n"
affiliation, sex-role concepts, academic grades and
curricular choice. Dissertation Abstracts, 1963,

g; (9). 31:71.

Turner, R. Some aspects of women's ambitions. American
Journal of Sociology, 196A. 13, 271-285.

 

76

Weston, P. J. and Mednick, Martha T. Race, social class,
and the motive to avoid success in women. Jburnal
of Cross—Cultural Psychology, 1970. l (3): BK-

291.

Winer, B. Statistical Principles in Experimental Design.
New-York: IflEGraw-Hill, 1962}

APPENDICES

CHAPTER VIII

APPENDIX A

Introductory Letter and Questionnaire

April 3, 1970
Dear Woman Student:

I am a graduate student working on my Ph.D. in
Clinical Psychology. Part of the requirement is designing
and carrying out a research project which is then written
up as a dissertation.

For my project, I have chosen to study the views of
sophomore and senior women on certain issues. Now is a
time of tremendous interest in woman as a person. Psycho-
logists and educators are finding a need to learn about
woman's feelings about herself, and herself in relation to
the world around her. It is my goal to combine, through
this research, personal concern and involvement in these
issues with my professional training. Thus, by enlarging
the knowledge base in this area, we could make it more
possible for psychologists and others in the helping pro-
fessions to be more understanding of and responsive to the
needs of women.

To select my sample, I will need some general in-
formation about a large number of girls. To help me do this,
will you provide the information requested on the enclosed
questionnaire? When I have received your replies, I will be
asking many of you to return for a two-hour research session.

That session will be held during the week of May 11th.
At that time, in a large group, I will be asking all of you
to complete a series of stories. This is all that I can tell
you about it now. However, this kind of research has been
done previously, and participants usually responded with
interest and enjoyment. In recognition and appreciation for
your help, I will send all who respond a summary and dis-
cussion of the entire project when all results have been
computed and studied.

I would like you to return the questionnaire by
April 12th. Shortly after, you will be notified about
further participation. Please respond promptly. Although
nothing especially revealing is being asked, all informa-
tion will, of course, be handled confidentially.

77

78

If you have any questions, please feel free to
call me at home, h87-3137.
Thank you for your help.

Cordially,

(Mrs.) Ida Kresojevich

79

 

 

QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME SCHOOL ADDRESS
AGE YEAR IN SCHOOL (Check one) Sophomore Senior
Are you enrolled as a full-time student? Yes No

MARITAL STATUS (Check one):

married___; single___; divorced ___; other ____
IF YOU ARE SINGLE, ARE YOU (Check one):
___Formally engaged
___Informally engaged, with fairly definite wedding plans
___Dating steadily, with no definite plans for the future
___Dating no one person exclusively

PLEASE HELP CHOOSE A CONVENIENT TIME DURING THE WEEK OF MAY
11 FOR A TWO-HOUR RESEARCH SESSION.

Fill out this schedule by crossing out the times you
could not attend. Circle those times you would prefer.

WEEKDAY EVENINGS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6-8 P.M. 7-9 P.M. 8-10 P.M. 9-11 P.M.

meAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY

10-12 A.M. 1.; P.M. 3:5 P.M. 7-9 P.M.
SUNDAY
"‘ ‘ ’OI ‘-' ' an“. " 00 , 'l ‘k "OK! 0 ‘A ‘l

ADDRESS IS SHOWING. SEAL IT, AND MAIL IT BACK TO ME BY
APRIL 13TH. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

Mrs. Ida Kresojevich
Department of Psychology
109 Olds Hall

APPENDIX B

Letter of Assignment to Research Session

109 Olds Hall
Campus
May 5. 1970

Dear

Thank you very much for your response to my question-
naire. I was pleased and encouraged to find that you are
interested and willing to participate in this project.

In accord with the time preferences you listed, your
research session has been scheduled for the following time:

Date:

 

Time:

 

Place:

 

I look forward to meeting with you then.

If your schedule has changed and you cannot attend
this session, please call me at home, 487-3137, before
9 a.m. or after 5 p.m.

Again, thank you. I am aware of how valuable your
time is, and I sincerely appreciate your efforts.

Sincerely yours,

(Mrs.) Ida Kresojevich

80

APPENDIX C

NUmber of Subjects in Each Academic Curriculum

Curriculum

 

Home Economics

Elementary & Special Education
Psychology

Mathematics & Statistics
English

Human Medicine

Social Science

Agriculture & Natural Resources
Nursing

Arts & Letters

Biological Science

History

Music

Lyman Briggs

Romance Languages

Other

No Preference

81

Number of So

 

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