"Fear of Success" among female and male freshmen engineering majors and degreed working engineers

The purpose of this research was to examine the "Fear of Success" (FOS) construct among 220 white female and male freshmen engineering majors and degreed working engineers. The relationship between FOS and the independent variables of sex of subject, student versus worker status of subject, sexappropriateness of occupational behavior, sex-appropriateness of occupational behavior for same sex versus opposite sex, and congruence of personality type with environment was investigated. The research design allowed a comparison of two interpretations of FOS: Horner's contention that it is an intrapsychic motive unique to women, and the alternative view that it is a reflection of cultural stereotypes shared by men and women. Subjects were freshmen engineering students attending two public universities in a southwestern state and degreed working engineers employed in the public and private sectors of the same geographic area. FOS scores were obtained from a content analysis of written fantasies according to an empirically derived system developed by Horner, Tresemer, Berens, and Watson and revised by Horner and Fleming. A baseline FOS measure was calculated by averaging the scores for two standard Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) verbal cues. FOS scores were also obtained for three success-toned, sex-linked occupational cues, subtracting the baseline measure from each. Holland's Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) was used to determine raw score and scaled score (sex-normed) summary codes for personality types. The level of congruence between personality type and the field of engineering was measured using an adaptation of a method proposed by Zener and Schnuelle. To examine baseline FOS as a function of sex, status, and sex of story character, a three-way analysis of variance was used. To study FOS as a function of sex, status, occupation, and sex of story character, a four-way repeated measures analysis of variance was performed. The relationship between baseline FOS and congruence was investigated by computing Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients. Among the subjects in this investigation it was found that: 1. The observed mean difference for levels of baseline FOS between the sexes was not significant. 2. The observed mean difference for levels of FOS between students and workers was significant. Specifically, students scored higher than workers on baseline FOS while workers scored higher than students on FOS elicited by success toned occupational cues. 3. No significant differences were found for FOS as a function of sex-appropriateness of occupational behavior. 4. No significant differences were found for FOS as a function of a match between sex of subject and sex of story character for sex-inappropriate occupational behavior. 5. A low but significant negative correlation between baseline FOS and congruence was observed for males but not for females. This result was obtained whether congruence was based on raw score or scaled score summary codes. The results of this study indicate a generally low level of FOS in the population sampled. It was suggested that this finding relates to personality type since all groups were characterized as "independent" and "achieving" according to Holland's classification system. The findings of this study argue against generalizing FOS results across populations and across time. While results do not support either Horner's "intrapsychic" nor the "cultural" explanation of FOS, an analysis of thematic content and anecdotal comments suggest the phenomenon may be real. An idiographic approach for further FOS research was thus recommended.