Sex-role compatibility of task and of competitor, and fear of success as variables affecting women's performance

Abstract

This study relates fear of success, masculine/feminine task description, and work conditions to women's performance. Subjects were 120 college women, 18 to 65 years old. Sixty exhibited fear of success (F women) and 60 no fear of success (S women) in stories about a woman in medical school. Half of each group solved anagrams described as masculine, and half solved the same anagrams described as feminine. They competed against a man, against a woman, or worked alone. A 2×2×3 factorial analysis of variance yielded significant interactions for Fear of Success × Task and Fear of Success × Competitor. F women performed best when competing against a woman on a feminine task, and on tasks described as feminine. S women performed best when competing against a man on a masculine task, and on tasks described as masculine. Subjects reported attitudes toward femininity, marriage and family, professional careers, competition, striving, and personal excellence. F women rated a home and family more important, a professional career less important, and themselves less feminine than S women. It is concluded that women perform best on tasks and against competitors who are perceived as compatible with their personal sex-role orientations.