MEASUREMENT OF ASSERTIVE-BEHAVIOR - CONSTRUCT AND PREDICTIVE-VALIDITY OF SELF-REPORT, ROLE-PLAYING, AND INVIVO MEASURES

The predictive validity and construct equivalence of the 3 major procedures used to measure assertive behavior; self-report, behavioral role-playing and in-vivo assessment, were studied. Human Ss [subjects, 75] who spanned the range of assertiveness, completed 2 self-report measures of assertiveness, the Rathus Assertiveness Scale and the College Self-Expression Scale; 2 scales from the Endler S-R Inventory of General Trait Anxiousness, the interpersonal and general anxiety scales; 8 role-playing situations that involved the expression of positive and negative assertiveness; and a telephone in-vivo task. Assertiveness measures are apparently task-dependent in that there was more overlap within task than between tasks. There is a moderate degree of correspondence between self-report and role-playing measures, although this was true only for negative assertion. Positive and negative assertion do not appear to have the same topography of responding. There appears to be no consistent relationship between the in-vivo measure and any other type of assertiveness measure.