Assertiveness, territoriality, and personal space behavior as a function of group assertion training.

42 18-40 yr old females who requested services from a university counseling center were employed to examine changes in assertiveness, territoriality, and personal space as a function of group assertion training. Ss were assigned to either a treatment (assertion training) group or to a control (waiting list) group. The following outcomes were hypothesized: (a) Ss who participated in the assertion training treatment program would increase their assertive behavior significantly more than controls. (b) Treatment Ss would exhibit smaller personal space zones than would controls. (c) Treatment Ss would use more space on a drawing task than would controls. Data collected from a battery of measures, including the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule, the College Self-Expression Scale, and the Assertive Behavior Situation Test, provided strong support for the 1st and 3rd hypothesis and partial support for the 2nd hypothesis. Implications of the findings for counseling and for the use of ethological constructs are discussed. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Students' evaluations of a university counseling center and their intentions to use its programs.

Two representative samples of 801 university students were telephoned in 1977 and asked to evaluate a university counseling service and to indicate how likely they would be to participate in a variety of developmental workshops. Results indicate that both groups of Ss used the service with more regularity and with greater satisfaction than did students in the 1960s. Ss were most inclined to participate in workshops that assisted them in career planning, negotiating the university system, and coping with financial and academic concerns. Ss most receptive to specific services tended to be younger and undergraduate, to have lower GPAs, to live in a residence hall, and to be Black. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)