Assertive behavior and its relation to anxiety, locus of control and self esteem in undergraduate students

Abstract

The assertive behavior and its relation to the anxiety, locus of control and self esteem have been evaluated. This study sample was random by selected and composed by 135 undergraduate students, 25 years old in average, male or female. The subjects had filled in the following scales: Rathus' assertive scale, Levensons' locus of control scale, IDATE-trace anxiety scale and Dela Coleta self esteem scale. Results have indicated that students from Science area presented higher assertiveness and self esteem scores, and lower anxiety scores than students from Social Sciences. No gender differences were observed. Results showed that the assertive behavior was positively correlated with internal locus of control (r=0.23) and positive self esteem (r=0.54). It was also obtained a significant negative correlation between assertiveness and anxiety (r=0.055). These results replicated data from other researches, indicating the importance of a low level of anxiety and high level of internality and self esteem for assertive behavior and its implication for social skills training.

anxiety; self esteem; assertive behavior; locus of control