The purpose of this study was to examine the effect on college students of an Assertive Training program that combined Rational Emotive Therapy with behavioral techniques. Assertiveness was measured by ascendance-submission (A-S Reaction Study), dominance (Edwards Personal Preference Schedule), and fear (Fear Survey Schedule).Prior to the group training the 135 volunteers, through the technique of stratified random sampling, were placed in two experimental groups and one control group at Ball State University and two experimental groups and one control group at Butler University. At the time of the group training, at Ball State University eight subjects participated in the experimental groups of the study and at Butler University 22 subjects participated in the experimental groups of the study. The experimental group at Ball State University (5 males and 3 females) and the experimental group at Butler University (8 males, 14 females) participated in a primarily verbal Assertive Training workshop lasting for two hours one night a week for four weeks. The experimental groups participated in an Assertive Training model which included a theoretical and cognitive presentation of the theory of Assertive Training and of Rational Emotive Therapy. The techniques of modeling, rehearsal/role-playing, and feedback were utilized. The control group was placed on a waiting list and contacted a week before the fifth and final session to take the post-tests. The members of the control group were not notified that they were members of the control group.The A-S Reaction Study, the Dominance Scale from the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule, and Fear Survey Schedule, were administered to the experimental and control subjects at the conclusion of the training period.The Ball State University sample was eliminated from the study because the procedures used by the facilitators departed from the original research design and, thus, made them non-comparable.The instruments were scored and the three scales (A-SRS, Dominance Scale from EPPS, and FSS) were subjected to a multivariate analysis of variance. The F value whichwas obtained for treatment between groups (3.9992) was statistically significant at the .05 level. Since the HO (1) null hypothesis: There will be no difference between the vector of the means of the experimental groups and the control groups on the total score of the A-S Reaction Study, the Dominance Scale of the Edwards Personal. Preference Schedule, and the total score of the Fear Survey Schedule--was rejected, further analysis of the data was performed using univariate analysis of variance. An F value (8.7028 significant at the .05 level) was obtained for the variable, dominance. Therefore, a conclusion can be made that dominance contributes to the overall rejection of the H0 (1) (treatment). The F values which were obtained for sex (1.0336) and treatment x sex (2.3617) were not significant at the .05 level. Therefore, the H0 (2) null hypothesis--There will be no difference between the vector of means of the males and the means of the females--were not rejected.A correlation study was made in order to assess the degree of relationships between the instruments used in the study. The Dominance Scales score from the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule correlates with the A-S Reaction Study score (+.426938), and with the Fear Survey Schedule (-0220731). Also the A-S Reaction Study score correlates with the Fear Survey Schedule score (-.327414). While these correlations are not strong, they are sufficient to insure that the instrumentation assessed essentially the same construct, assertion.The findings from this study were:1. There was a significant difference found between the experimental group and the control group which was mainly due to theDominance Scale score on the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule.2. There was no significant difference found between males and females.3. In the intercorrelation study substantial relationships were found among the three instruments.A conclusion was drawn that college students can be taught to become more assertive in social interpersonal relationships by including rational-emotive procedures with behavioral techniques of Assertive Training.3
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/176498 |
| Date | January 1976 |
| Creators | Griffith, Mariellen |
| Contributors | Hayes, Robert E. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | v, 128 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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