Feminine sex-role behavior, which includes deferential, nonassertive behavior, may stem from women's low status position and powerlessness. In a study of male and female college students, perceptions of the acceptability of assertive behavior were examined as a function of: (1) sex and status characteristics of assertive speakers; (2) sex of the target of the assertive communication; and (3) sex of the observers. Results tended to support the prediction that appropriate assertive behavior was more negatively evaluated when the speaker was female, had low status, and spoke to a male target. Male observers were not more negative than female observers in their views; female observers were more extreme than male observers in their rating of high-status women and judged speakers, regardless of sex, to be more inappropriate. The findings suggest that assertive women were generally perceived more negatively than assertive men. (Author/JAC)