Assertive and Non

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ASSERTIVE AND NON-ASSERTIVE

BEHAVIOR

INTRODUCTION :

Difficulty with being assertive has stereotypically been a challenge ascribed to women.

However, research on violence and men's roles demonstrated that many physical altercations

result from poor communication which then escalates into larger conflicts. Many men feel

powerless in the face of aggressive communication from men or women in their lives;

conversely, passivity in some situations can arouse frustration and anger for many men. Such as,

assertiveness can be an effective tool for men who are seeking to proactively alleviate violence intheir lives, as well as a tool for fostering healthier, more satisfying lives.

certain circumstances. That is, assertiveness is not a personality Sociologists and

trait which mental health professionals are finding that assertiveness is usually displayed in

persists consistently across all situations. Different individuals exhibit varying degrees of

assertive behavior depending on whether they are in a work, social, academic, recreational or

relationship context. Therefore, a goal for assertiveness training is to maximize the number of

context in which an individual is able to communicate assertively.

ASSERTIVE BEHAVIOUR:

An assertive person is one who acts in his/her own best interests, stands up for self,

expresses feelings honestly, is in charge of self in interpersonal relations, and chooses for self.

The basic message sent from an assertive person is "I'm OK and you're OK." An assertive person

is emotionally honest, direct, self-enhancing, and expressive. He/she feels confident, self-

respecting at the time of his/her actions as well as later

Assertive Body Language:

Stand straight, steady, and directly face the people to whom you are speaking whilemaintaining eye contact.

Speak in a clear,steady voice- loud enough for the people to whom you are speaking tohear you.

Speak fluently, without hesitation, and with assurance and confidence.


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NON-ASSERTIVE BEHAVIOUR:

A non-assertive person is one who is often taken advantage of, feels helpless, takes on

everyone's problems, says yes to inappropriate demands and thoughtless requests, and allows

others to choose for him or her. The basic message he/she sends is "I'm not OK."

The non-assertive person is emotionally dishonest, indirect, self-denying, and inhibited. He/she

feels hurt, anxious, and possibly angry about his/her actions.

Non-Assertive Body Language:

Lack of eye contact; looking down or away.Swaying and shifting of weight from one foot to the other.Whining and hesitancy when speaking.

How To Improve the Communication Process

Active listening: reflecting back (paraphrasing) to the other person both words and feelings expressed by that person. Identifying your position: stating your thoughts and feelings about the situation. Exploring alternative solution: brainstorming other possibilities; rating the pros and cons; ranking the possible solutions.

Making Simple Requests:

You have a right to make your wants known to others. You deny your own importance when you do not ask for what you want. The best way to get exactly what you want is to ask for it directly. Indirect ways of asking for what you want may not be understood. Your request is more likely to be understood when you use assertive body language. Asking for what you want is a skill that can be learned. Directly asking for what you want can become a habit with many pleasant rewards.


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Refusing requests:

You have a right to say NO! You deny your own importance when you say yes and you really mean no. Saying no does not imply that you reject another person; you are simply refusing a

request.

When saying no, it is important to be direct, concise, and to the point. If you really mean to say no, do not be swayed by pleading, begging, cajoling,

compliments, or other forms of manipulation.

You may offer reasons for your refusal, but don't get carried away with numerousexcuses.

A simple apology is adequate; excessive apologies can be offensive. Demonstrate assertive body language. Saying no is a skill that can be learned. Saying no and not feeling guilty about it can become a habit that can be very growth

enhancing.

Assertive Ways of Saying "No":

on.

Steps in Learning to Say 'No':

Ask yourself, "Is the request reasonable?" Hedging, hesitating, feeling cornered, andnervousness or Stightness in your body are all clues that you want to say NO or that you

need more information before deciding to answer.

Assert your aright to ask for more information and for clarification before you answer.Once you understand the request and decide you do not want to do it, say NO firmly and

calmly.

Learn to say NO without saying, "I'm sorry, but..."


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Evaluate Your Assertions:

Active listening: reflecting back (paraphrasing) to the other person both words and

feelings expressed by that person. No frames

Identifying your position: stating your thoughts and feelings about the situation.

brainstorming other possibilities; rating the pros and cons;

ranking the possible solutions.

Assertive Techniques:

Broken Record - Be persistent and keep saying what you want over and over againwithout getting angry, irritated, or loud. Stick to your point.

Free Information - Learn to listen to the other person and follow-up on freeinformation people offer about themselves. This free information gives you somethingto talk about.

Self-Disclosure - Assertively disclose information about yourself - how you think,feel, and react to the other person's information. This gives the other person

information about you.

Fogging - An assertive coping skill is dealing with criticism. Do not deny anycriticism and do not counter-attack with criticism of your own.

the truth Agree with - Find a statement in the criticism that is truthful and agree withthat statement.

Agree with the odds - Agree with any possible truth in the critical statement. Agree in principle - Agree with the general truth in a logical statement such as, "That

makes sense."

Negative Assertion - Assertively accepting those things that are negative aboutyourself Coping with your errors.

Workable Compromise - When your self-respect is not in question offer a workablecompromise.

Method of Conflict Resolution:

parties express their feelings about the situation, and show empathy for the

other person.

lt of the behavior change?

Compromise may be necessary, but compromise may not be possible.


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Every Person's Bill of Rights :

1. The right to be treated with respect.

2. The right to have and express your own feelings and opinions.

3. The right to be listened to and taken seriously.

4. The right to set your own priorities.

5 The right to say NO without feeling guilty.

6. The right to get what you pay for.

7. The right to make mistakes.

8. The right to choose not to assert yourself.

The Relationship between Assertiveness and Social Anxiety in College

Students

Kimberley A. Moore, Erin E. Hudson, and Brandon F. SmithHuntington University

the Relationship Between Assertiveness and Social Anxiety in College Students

INTRODUCTION

The psychological concept of assertiveness provokes a great deal of interest in the social

psychological field mainly because of its multidimensional definition that covers the three

major tenets of human expression: behavior, cognition, and affect. Behaviorally, assertiveness

is exercised when an individual is capable of freely expressing his or her emotions, is able to

defend his or her purposes or goals in general and specific situations, and can establish

rewarding and fulfilling interpersonal relationships (Colter & Guerra, 1976; Herzberger, Chan,

& Katz, 1984). Affectively and cognitively, assertive people are capable of expressing and

reacting to positive and negative emotions without undue anxiety or aggression (Gladding,

1988).

Further development of the theoretical nature of assertiveness was conducted leading many

researchers to conclude that any one persons level of assertiveness could more effectively be

placed on a continuum rather than being dichotomously categoriz ed as assertive or non-

assertive. Cassell and Blackwell (2002) theorized that there are three main points of

classification on the assertiveness continuum. Individuals may be positively assertive, non-

assertive, or negatively assertive. A person who is positively assertive will exhibit full and


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free expression of emotion, will be able to confidently take steps toward specified goals, and

will find peace and enjoyment in most processes of daily life (lacking anxiety). A non-

assertive person will exhibit decidedly neutral behaviors, have high levels of anxiety

associated with concerns about his or her interpersonal interactions, and may not be able to

create logical goals for which to strive. Finally, a negatively assertive person will havesignificant levels of anxiety, may still take confident steps toward goals, but those goals and

goal-directed behavior will likely be socially dishonorable.

In recent years, further research and development of assertiveness theory has either focused on

assertion training or on how assertiveness is affected by ethnicity or gender (Rodriquez,

Johnson, & Combs, 2001). Rodriquez et al. (2001) concluded that assertiveness is strongly

affected by age and ethnicity. Using the RAS, they found that undergraduate women in

college exhibited lower scores of positive assertiveness than older women and that Hispanic

women had lower levels of assertiveness than Caucasian women.

A similar study focused on the impact of ethnicity by having women from different ethnic

backgrounds evaluate the assertiveness of individuals in fictitious situations. In evaluation of

the results, it was suggested that assertiveness may have culturally relative definitions

associated with the values upheld by different societies. For instance, the statement, Excuse

me, I am in a hurry. Put the phone down and help me, was viewed as assertive by Caucasian

and African American women and as aggressive (negatively assertive) by most women in the

Hispanic group (Yoshioka, 2000).

Social anxiety should have a negative correlation when compared to positive assertiveness.

Defined independently, social anxiety should encompass overly negative interpretation of

social feedback, recall of more negative than positive feedback, presence of irrational beliefs,

negative self-statements, and excessively high standards of performance (Hartman, 1984).

Revolving around a persons perception of social events, social anxiety is cognitive and

affective and will negatively influence an individuals behavior.

A final point of interest focuses on the past popularity of assertiveness training that emerged

in the early 1970s. A common aspect of the various proposed methods of assertiveness

training was that it focused on elimination of social anxiety. In order to do this, therapists usedtactics associated with modeling, shaping, and reinforcing of positively assertive behavior.

Most studies conducted in this time period assumed that social anxiety and assertiveness had a

negative correlation (Colter & Guerra, 1976; Fensterheim, 1975; Gladding, 1988).


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Method

Participants

Participants included 60 undergraduate college students enrolled at a small private liberal arts

school in the Midwest. The convenience sample consisted of students who voluntarily

participated in the study. Volunteers were given small incentives (e.g., snacks and soda pop)

for attendance and placed in a drawing for a prize. The sample for the present study was

33.3% male and 66.7% female. The mean age was 20.1, the median age was 20, and the range

was 17 to 41. There were 24 freshman, 17 sophomores, 7 juniors, and 12 seniors.

Measures

The Assertiveness Self-Report Inventory (ASRI) was used to measure the behavioral and

affective dimensions of assertiveness (Herzberger, Chan, & Katz, 1984). The ASRI is a scale

that consists of 25 true/false questions that is scored by the total of true responses for

specific questions in comparison to false responses for the remaining questions. The ASRI

has a reliability of .81 and a validity that is correlated significantly with the Rathus

Assertiveness Schedule (Herzberger, et al., 1984).

The Fear of Negative Evaluation (FNE) was used to measure one aspect of social anxiety, the

fear of being negatively evaluated by others (Watson & Friend, 1969). The FNE consists of 30true/false questions and is scored by the number of key items a participant has marked. One

point is given if the answer of the participant matches the key. Zero points are given for

answers that do not match the key. Scores may range from 0 to 30 with 0 being no social

anxiety and 30 being the highest level of social anxiety. The FNE has a reliability of .72

and validity of .96 (Watson & Friend, 1969).

The present study also contained a few demographic questions that included gender and

college class (Freshman through Senior). The demographic questions were on a separate sheet

of paper.

Procedure

Two evening sessions were offered for the administration of the measures and the

demographic data. The announcement of the sessions for the study was sent through e-mail


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and advertised campus wide. Incentives (e.g., snacks and drinks) and a drawing for a grand

prize were offered as incentives to encourage attendance.

In both sessions, which occurred in the same classroom, participants were welcomed and

given a brief explanation of the study (see Appendix A). They were assured confidentialityand given contact information in case they had any questions or concerns after completing the

study. Next, directions for the completion of the survey were then explained to participants.

Surveys (with pencils supplied) were then administered to the participants. After completion

of the surveys, participants were thanked again for their participation and allowed to leave.

Results

A Pearson rcorrelation coefficient was used to analyze the data. Using an alpha level of .05and 58 degrees of freedom the robtained (-0.23) was compared to the critical rvalue

(r=.25).

Because the robtained was less than the critical r, the null hypothesis was retained even

though the significance was approached (p=.08). No significant relationship between

assertiveness (ASRI) and social anxiety (FNE) was found. The means of the scales were

similar to the means obtained in the current study. The means in the original study for the

ASRI ranged from 9.54 to 10.71 for both males and females (Herzberger, et al., 1984). The

current studys obtained mean of Assertiveness (ASRI) scores was 11.58 and (SD=4.85). Theoriginal studys means for the FNE ranged from 13.97 to 16.1 (Watson & Friend, 1969). The

obtained means of Social Anxiety (FNE) scores was 17.18 and (SD =7.44). A comparative

analysis could not be performed because the original data was unavailable.

Discussion

The results of the present study did not support a negative correlation between assertiveness

and social anxiety as measured by the ASRI and the FNE. The strength of the relationship was

not as strong as we expected but our critical rvalue did approach significance. The majority of

the participants obtained moderate scores on both assertiveness and social anxiety.

The correlation was not significant but the present study suggests that a range of assertiveness

may need to be considered in the measurement of assertiveness. Research by Cassel and

Blackwell (2002) found that assertiveness can be measured on a continuum including positive

and negative levels. Negative assertiveness would be evident in a person who exhibits high


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levels of anxiety as well as goal-oriented behaviors (otherwise known as an aggressive

person). The ASRI used in the current study was developed in 1984. Therefore a continuum of

assertiveness was not likely taken into consideration in the development of this measure. A

practical application of the current research is that participants who rated high in social

anxiety could receive teaching, therapy, or other treatment to lessen fear and increaseassertiveness skills. Assertiveness training that emerged in the early 1970s focused on the

elimination of social anxiety and the modeling, shaping, and reinforcing of positively assertive

behavior. It is likely that similar training could be useful today.

There is no evidence for the effect of gender on both assertiveness and social anxiety. The

campus from which the sample was obtained is composed of about 60% females and 40%

males. The sample for the present study was 33.3% male and 66.7% female. Therefore, it is

uncertain whether the elevated levels of female participants had an effect on our study.

Considerations for future research would be to add the age of participants as a variable

because maturity may have an effect on levels of assertiveness and social anxiety. Future

studies could examine the levels of assertiveness and social anxiety for young individuals (i.e.,

adolescents) compared to older individuals (i.e., adults). Because the sample of the current

study was mostly female, gender could also be another variable to consider by comparing

levels of assertiveness and social anxiety between males and females.

Bibliography

1) Cassel, R. N., & Blackwell, J. (2002). Positive assertiveness begins with charactereducation and includes the abuse of cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs.Journal of

Instructional Psychology , 29(2), 77-79.

2) Colter, S. B., & Guerra, J. J. (1976).Assertion training: A humanistic-behavioralguide to self-dignity. Champaign, IL: Research Press.

3) Gilbert, N., & Meyer, C. (2005). Fear of negative evaluation and the development ofeating psychopathology: A longitudinal study among nonclinical women.Journal of

Eating Disorders, 37(4), 037-312.

4) Lesure-Lester, G. E. (2001). Dating competence, social assertion and social anxietyamong college students. College Student Journal, 35(2), 317-320.

5) Monfries, M. M., & Kafer, N. F. (1993). Private self-consciousness and fear ofnegative evaluation. The Journal of Psychology, 128, 447-454.

6) Paterson, M., Green, J. M., Basson, C. J., & Ross, F. (2002). Probability of assertivebehavior, interpersonal anxiety and self-efficacy of South African registered dietitians.

Journal of Human Nutrition & Dietetics, 15, 9-17.

7) http://www.kon.org/urc/v6/moore.html
http://www.kon.org/urc/v6/moore.htmlhttp://www.kon.org/urc/v6/moore.htmlhttp://www.kon.org/urc/v6/moore.html


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8) www.google.com

SEMINAR

ON

ASSERTIVE

AND

NON-ASSERTIVE

BEHAVIOUR

SUBMITTED TO:Mrs LISA LEO (READER)

DEPT OF PSYCHIATRIC NURSING

SUBMITTED BY:S.MATHAN

MSC(N) Ist YEAR

SUBMITTED ON:14/08/2012
http://www.google.com/http://www.google.com/http://www.google.com/


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Assertive and Non