Self-reported fears of American, British and Dutch university students: A cross-national comparative study

Sex Differences in Emotionality: Fact or Stereotype?

One consistent element of Western sex stereotypes is that women are emotional, whereas men are rational. This is also widely spread in psychology and defended by feminist authors who equate women's relationality with their emotionality. In this article the concept of `emotionality' is criticized and the assumption that women are generally more emotional than men is questioned. A large amount of empirical research on sex differences in emotions is reviewed, leading to the conclusion that the general idea that women are more emotional than men tells us more about Western sex stereotypes than about women's actual emotions.

Existential Threat or Dissociative Response? Examining Defensive Avoidance of Point-of-Care Testing Devices Through a Terror Management Theory Framework

Using a terror management theory framework, this study investigated if providing mortality reminders or self-esteem threats would lead participants to exhibit avoidant responses toward a point-of-care testing device for cardiovascular disease risk and if the nature of the device served to diminish the existential threat of cardiovascular disease. One hundred and twelve participants aged 40-55 years completed an experimental questionnaire. Findings indicated that participants were not existentially threatened by established terror management methodologies, potentially because of cross-cultural variability toward such methodologies. Highly positive appraisals of the device also suggest that similar technologies may beneficially affect the uptake of screening behaviors.

Polish Adaptation and Psychometric Validation of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-III

The present study sought to adapt and validate the psychometric properties of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-III in Poland. The ASI-III consists of three subscales, each representing one of the three domains of fears of the negative consequences of anxiety-related physical, cognitive, or social sensations. The study included a total of 116 panic disorder patients and 411 controls who did not show the presence of mental disorders. The results indicated that the Polish-language version of the ASI-III is characterized by high content validity, internal consistency, and stability over a period of 28 days. Moreover, its factor structure was largely equivalent to that found on the original ASI-III.

A Confirmatory Factor Analytic Study of Anxiety, Fear, and Behavioral Inhibition System Measures

Abstract. Recent revisions to the reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST) of personality have highlighted the distinction between the emotions of fear and anxiety. These revisions have substantial implications for self-report measurement; in particular, they raise the question of whether separate traits of fear and anxiety exist and, if so, their interrelationship. To address this question, the current study used confirmatory factor analytic procedures to examine the convergent and discriminant validity of measures of trait anxiety, fear, and the behavioral inhibition system (BIS). We also examined measurement and structural invariance across gender in 167 males and 173 females who completed the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the Carver and White BIS Scale, and the Fear Survey Schedule (FSS). The findings suggested that trait anxiety and the BIS scale are relatively distinct from Tissue Damage Fear (FSS). Further, the final model showed measurement and structural invariance across gender. The implications of the results for future self-report assessment in RST research are discussed.

The structural relation between disgust sensitivity and blood-injection-injury fears: a cross-cultural comparison of US and Dutch data

A growing body of literature has implicated the role of disgust sensitivity in blood-injection-injury (BII) phobia. The present study sought to extend this line of research by investigating the structural relation between Rozin et al.'s [(2000). Disgust. In M. Lewis, J.M. Haviland (Eds.), Handbook of emotions. New York: Guilford Publications.] theoretical model of core and animal reminder disgust as they relate to BII fears in US (N = 162) and Dutch (N = 260) samples. Using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), the hypothesized relation between the theoretical model of disgust and BII fears demonstrated good model fit in both samples. Consistent with previous findings on the differential relation between core and animal reminder disgust and BII fears [de Jong, P. J., & Merckelbach H. (1998). Blood-injection-injury phobia and fear of spiders: Domain specific individual differences in disgust sensitivity. Personality and Individual Differences, 24, 153-158], structural equation modeling (SEM) provided support for a domain specific relationship in both samples: animal reminder disgust was specifically related to the BII latent factor, whereas core disgust was not. The clinical and research implications regarding the relationships between disgust and BII fears across cultures are discussed.

Masculinity-femininity as a national characteristic and its relationship with national agoraphobic fear levels: Fodor's sex role hypothesis revitalized

Hofstede's dimension of national culture termed Masculinity-Femininity [. Cultures and organizations: software of the mind. London: McGraw-Hill] is proposed to be of relevance for understanding national-level differences in self-assessed agoraphobic fears. This prediction is based on the classical work of Fodor [. In: V. Franks & V. Burtle (Eds.), Women in therapy: new psychotherapies for a changing society. New York: Brunner/Mazel]. A unique data set comprising 11 countries (total N=5491 students) provided the opportunity of scrutinizing this issue. It was hypothesized and found that national Masculinity (the degree to which cultures delineate sex roles, with masculine or tough societies making clearer differentiations between the sexes than feminine or modest societies do) would correlate positively with national agoraphobic fear levels (as assessed with the Fear Survey Schedule-III). Following the correction for sex and age differences across national samples, a significant and large effect-sized national-level (ecological) r=+0.67 (P=0.01) was found. A highly feminine society such as Sweden had the lowest, whereas the champion among the masculine societies, Japan, had the highest national Agoraphobic fear score.

Phobic anxiety in 11 nations. Part I: Dimensional constancy of the five-factor model

The Fear Survey Schedule-III (FSS-III) was administered to a total of 5491 students in Australia, East Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Spain, Sweden, and Venezuela, and submitted to the multiple group method of confirmatory analysis (MGM) in order to determine the cross-national dimensional constancy of the five-factor model of self-assessed fears originally established in Dutch, British, and Canadian samples. The model comprises fears of bodily injury-illness-death, agoraphobic fears, social fears, fears of sexual and aggressive scenes, and harmless animals fears. Close correspondence between the factors was demonstrated across national samples. In each country, the corresponding scales were internally consistent, were intercorrelated at magnitudes comparable to those yielded in the original samples, and yielded (in 93% of the total number of 55 comparisons) sex differences in line with the usual finding (higher scores for females). In each country, the relatively largest sex differences were obtained on harmless animals fears. The organization of self-assessed fears is sufficiently similar across nations to warrant the use of the same weight matrix (scoring key) for the FSS-III in the different countries and to make cross-national comparisons feasible. This opens the way to further studies that attempt to predict (on an a priori basis) cross-national variations in fear levels with dimensions of national cultures.

Normative studies with the Scale for Interpersonal Behaviour (SIB): II. US students. A cross-cultural comparison with Dutch data

The Scale for Interpersonal Behaviour (SIB), a multidimensional, self-report measure of state assertiveness, was administered to a nationwide sample of 2375 undergraduates enrolled at 11 colleges and universities across the USA. The SIB was developed in the Netherlands for the independent assessment of both distress associated with self-assertion in a variety of social situations and the likelihood of engaging in a specific assertive response. This is done with four factorially-derived, first-order dimensions: (i) Display of negative feelings (Negative assertion); (ii) Expression of and dealing with personal limitations; (iii) Initiating assertiveness; and (iv) Praising others and the ability to deal with compliments/praise of others (Positive assertion). The present study was designed to determine the cross-national invariance of the original Dutch factors and the construct validity of the corresponding dimensions. It also set out to develop norms for a nationwide sample of US students. The results provide further support for the reliability, factorial and construct validity of the SIB. Compared to their Dutch equivalents, US students had meaningfully higher distress in assertiveness scores on all SIB scales (medium to large effect sizes), whereas differences on the performance scales reflected small effect sizes. The cross-national differences in distress scores were hypothesized to have originated from the American culture being more socially demanding with respect to interpersonal competence than the Dutch, and from the perceived threats and related cognitive appraisals that are associated with such demands.

The prevalence of self-reported problems in young adults from the general population

This study assessed the prevalence of a wide range of behavioral and emotional problems in 706 19- to 24-year-olds from the Dutch general population using the Young Adult Self-Report (YASR). The prevalence rates found can be used to make comparisons with data from individuals or other samples. Large or medium (variance > 5.9%) sex effects were found for alcohol use, for the items 'Brags' and 'Swears' (males > females), and for the items 'Cries a lot' and 'Fears' (females > males). With respect to socially desirable items, females more often reported attitudes or behaviors pertaining to helping other people, while males more often reported competitive behaviors or attitudes. For YASR syndromes, higher mean scores for females than males were found for the Withdrawn, Somatic Complaints, and Anxious/Depressed syndromes, while mean scores on the Delinquent Behavior syndrome were higher for males than females. No age effects were found, indicating that normative data were similar across the 19- to 24-year age span. Compared to other problem areas, thought problems and delinquent behavior in males, and social problems and delinquent behavior in females were least likely to be associated with other types of problems. Hence, instruments for the assessment of psychopathology in young adults should include these areas to provide a comprehensive picture of behavioral and emotional problems.

Origins of common fears: effects on severity, anxiety responses and memories of onset

The purpose of the present study was twofold: First, to test Rachman's (1976) theory (Behaviour Research and Therapy, 14, 125-131) which predicts that "directly" conditioned fears will differ from "indirectly" conditioned fears in magnitude and anxiety response patterns. Secondly, to explore validity issues related to the questionnaire methodology typically used in fear acquisition research. The questionnaire comprised 3 anxiety scales and 3 fear-onset questions used in prior research, a specifically developed 36-item fear list and 2 validity-check items. One hundred and ninety-one Ss completed the questionnaire. After selecting and rank-ordering 10 fears from the fear list, Ss answered questionnaire items for their first- and then their tenth-ranked fear. Results failed to confirm Rachman's predictions: A significantly greater proportion of Ss ascribed highly-feared and moderately-feared situations or things to direct conditioning. In addition, differential anxiety response patterns were not present for different levels of fear. However, results supported the prediction that direct-conditioning ascriptions would be endorsed with greater certainty. The findings suggest that direct-conditioning experiences may be more memorable than indirect-conditioning events. The theoretical and methodological implications of the findings are discussed. It is suggested that future research either employ methodologies more suited to investigating causal relationships or that Rachman's (1976) theory be blended with an attributional account of fear acquisition.

Epidemiological comparisons of American and Dutch adolescents' self-reports

OBJECTIVE

To determine the cross-cultural applicability of self-reports of adolescents' problems and competencies.

METHOD

Youth Self-Reports (YSRs) were completed by 803 American and 803 Dutch nonreferred adolescents matched by gender, age, and socioeconomic status.

RESULTS

Comparisons revealed that American adolescents reported many more problems than did Dutch adolescents. This finding contrasts sharply with the American/Dutch similarities in parents' and teachers' reports of children's problem behaviors. Competence scores also were much higher for the American than the Dutch sample.

CONCLUSIONS

Cutpoints for discriminating the normal and the clinical range of YSR scores need to be adjusted to local norms for the Dutch sample. Cultural factors may be responsible for the cross-national differences.

Comparison between FSS-II scores of two groups of university students sampled 15 yr apart

Undergraduate students were contacted in classes at Memorial University of Newfoundland during 1975 and asked to complete the FSS-II, on a voluntary basis; 511 students (232 male and 279 female subjects) provided enough data for analyses. In 1990, the same procedure was carried out, resulting in a comparable group of 359 students (161 male and 198 female subjects). Contrary to predictions, the 1990 students were more fearful than the 1975 group and the increase in fearfulness was contributed exclusively by women students. The component of fear contributing most to this increase related to social evaluation and violence.

The structure of phobias in panic disorder

Fear and avoidance of individual phobic situations were measured in 1168 patients with panic disorder suffering current attacks. Correlation and principal-components analyses give components of agoraphobia, illness phobia, and social phobia in panic disorder. Agoraphobia does not stand out so clearly as illness phobia and social phobia as a separate factor; 'fear of open spaces' shows some separation from other agoraphobic situations. Frequency of panic attacks and changes associated with their remission have no special relationship to agoraphobia. Closer attention to social and illness phobia may be fruitful in discerning the evolution of panic disorder.

Self-reported fears (FSS-II) of subjects aged 50 years and over

From studies of fears in children and adolescents, it was concluded that fears decrease with age and that girls show more fears than boys at the approach of adolescence. Community studies of adult fears as well as psychopathology have suggested a decrease in fears and phobic and anxiety symptoms with age. However, little is known of the distribution of fears in older adults. In view of this, the FSS-II was administered to a group of individuals aged 50 yr and over, as part of a larger epidemiological investigation of the oral health and treatment needs of older adults within Metropolitan Toronto. The results supported the hypothesis that the gender differences which ermerge at adolescence hold up into old age. The predicted age decrease in fearfulness was also supported.