| Abstract: | TO INVESTIGATE ANXIETY PRODUCED BY TAKING A PERSONALITY TEST, 44 COLLEGE SS WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO 1 OF 3 GROUPS: A CONTROL GROUP WHICH WROTE AN ESSAY, "WHO AM I?"; A GROUP WHICH TOOK AN ELEMENTARY FORM OF AN ACHIEVEMENT TEST (IOWA TEST OF BASIC SKILLS), THEN WROTE THE ESSAY; AND A GROUP WHICH TOOK A PERSONALITY INVENTORY (MMPI), THEN WROTE THE ESSAY. CONTENT ANALYSIS, EMPLOYING THE GENERAL INQUIRER SYSTEM, REDUCED THE ESSAYS TO QUANTITATIVE TAG SPECIFIC CONCEPTS WHICH DISCLOSED STATISTICALLY RELIABLE DIFFERENCES ON 21 OF THE 83 TAGS (P $MS .05). AS HYPOTHESIZED, THE MMPI GROUP DISPLAYED MORE ANXIETY AS A FUNCTION OF THE TEST EXPERIENCE THAN DID EITHER OF THE OTHER 2 GROUPS. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
