Challenging Horner but following Berger and Luckmann, "female motive to avoid success" is interpreted as a normative response to social deviancy. Previous studies of this "motive" have analyzed male S's response to male success at activities typified for males but female S's response to female success at activities non-typified for females. This…

This study replicated the story completion part of the earlier research on fear of success by Horner, and introduced three variations in the cue used to measure fear of success, which was slightly more characteristic of honor students than others. (EK)

This paper, presented at the American Educational Research Association, Washington, D.C., April 1975, replicates Horner's (1968) study of the motive to avoid success (M-s) on fifty-through eleventh-grade males (N=169) and females (N=168). Sex and grade differences were found in the specific reasons given for avoiding success. (Author)

Each of 96 college females and 95 college males were randomly assigned to either a high or a low subjective probability of outstanding performance condition. The findings are contrary to predictions based on the fear of success hypothesis. Implications of the results for the fear of success hypothesis are discussed. (Author)

Picture stimuli depicting females and males working together were shown to college students by either a male or a female experimenter. Subjects' responses to the pictures were assessed using standard need achievement scoring. A significant interaction was obtained between sex of subject and sex of experimenter, such that higher need achievement…

This speech addressed itself to the variety of achievement motivations that can be critically different for men and women. The author, impressed by the different ways people cognitively define and experience a successful accomplishment, developed a taxonomy of psychological cues which people might use in defining their success. Six varieties of…

This document reports on recent trends in graduate school survival. Data were obtained from a national study of 1950-1953 post-master's students; a recent pilot project in attrition conducted at the University of California, Berkeley; and on trend data in doctoral attrition provided by the Graduate Division at Berkeley. Emphasis is placed on the…

Males and females read descriptions of a male or female worker who succeeded or failed as a manager or secretary. Subjects responded with impressions of the worker, causal attributions for his/her success or failure, and evaluations of the likelihood of a number of positive and negative consequences for the worker. (Author)

Individual differences in fear of success were measured for 98 female and 33 male college students. For females, fear of success was significantly related to performance decrement on masculine but not feminine tasks, with the relationship accounting for approximately 6 percent of the variance. (Author)

This study examined, for 221 black and white male and female college students, relationships between the motive to avoid success and: (a) sex and race; (b) congruency, consistency, and differentiation of occupational choice; and (c) occupational aspirations. Results showed a significant sex difference on the motive to avoid success. (Author)

This paper, presented at the American Educational Research Association, Washington, D.C., April 1975, investigates the relationship of Horner's (1968) measure of fear of success to the perception of interpersonal relationships in five samples of male and female college students. Results are discussed in terms of sex similarities and differences.…

Of the 177 college students in Horner's original 1965 fear-of-success study, 158 were interviewed by mail. Measures of fear of success, achievement motivation, and postcollege experiences, particularly pregnancy, were obtained. The 1965 data measuring fear of success and achievement motivation were recoded for comparison with the 1974 data.…

This study tests hypotheses about achievement orientation, particularly vicarious achievement. Undergraduate students (N=437) completed multiple-choice questionnaires, indicating likely responses of one person to the success of another. The sex of succeeder and observer, closeness of relationship, and setting (medical school or graduate school of…

This study was designed to extend discussion of fear of success beyond the college population, using Horner's original coding scheme to examine the thematic imagery of TAT stories told by a cross-section of the public during a survey interview. The data collected from this sample of the general public contrasted in several ways with data gathered…

Differences in ratings of initial expectancy of success, perceived scholastic ability, and causal attributions were assessed for male and female high school students for a simulated academic test. As predicted, higher expectancies were found for high performance achievers and nontraditional females. (Author)