Assessing subjective responses to assertive behavior. Data from patient samples.
Clients often see assertive people as skilled yet less likable, so mix empathy into BST to protect social rapport.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Mellitz et al. (1983) showed hospital patients short videos of women acting either assertively or passively.
After each clip the patients scored how skilled and how likable the woman seemed.
The goal was to see how real patients judge assertive behavior before they start their own assertion training.
What they found
Patients gave the assertive models higher skill scores but lower likability scores.
In plain words, they admired the assertive women yet liked them less.
This mismatch can make clients hesitate to practice assertion themselves.
How this fits with other research
Green et al. (1984) ran almost the same video task with college students and got the opposite result: students liked the assertive models more.
The difference is the viewer group—patients versus neurotypical students—so the dislike effect may be stronger in clinical samples.
Osnes et al. (1986) later showed that adding empathy to assertion lifts likability, giving trainers a practical fix.
Delamater et al. (1986) reviewed these mixed findings and concluded that context, sex, and empathy all moderate how people react to assertion.
Why it matters
If your client fears that being assertive will make them unlikable, show them these studies.
Explain that the dislike effect is common but can be softened with empathic wording and conversational comments.
Build empathy drills into your BST package and rehearse real-world scripts so clients leave feeling both competent and liked.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Research in assertion training has focused primarily on the acquisition, transfer, and maintenance of skills. Little research has been conducted on other parameters influencing skills training. The present study examined the subjective reactions of two different samples of patients (psychiatric and nonpsychiatric) to filmed vignettes of assertive and unassertive behavior. The videotapes consisted of four males and four females, each of whom behaved either assertively or passively in four different situations that are typically used in assertion training. After viewing one of these models, the patients completed an inventory designed to evaluate the interpersonal attractiveness of the model. Multivariate analyses of the data indicated that assertive behavior was viewed as skilled and capable but was concomitantly rated as significantly less likable than passive behavior. The clinical implications of these perceptions of assertion are discussed.
Behavior modification, 1983 · doi:10.1177/01454455830073002