Effet du niveau de peur, de la nature des consignes et d'un re-test lors d'un test d'approche comportementale.

56 16–22 yr old female students with either a moderate or a strong fear of harmless snakes were selected on the basis of a combined score from the Fear Survey Schedule and another fear questionnaire. The 2 experimental groups were submitted twice to a test of behavioral approach whereas a control group was submitted only once to the test. For each level of fear, half of the Ss were given neutral instructions to approach the stimulus and the other half were strongly urged to approach it and go through the whole series of steps of the approach test. Ss in the experimental groups received the same instructions on both test occasions. Results show a retest effect (i.e., Ss were less fearful in the 2nd test), but no significant effect due to the type of instructions. Ss with the higher level of fear showed less approach behavior, went more slowly through the steps of the approach test, and verbally expressed stronger anxiety. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)