Contributions of Friends to Women's Fear of Success in College
In this study fear of success of 88 female college freshmen was examined in relation to their friends' interest in college. Subjects wrote stories to a cue designed to elicit fear of success imagery. Analysis showed more fear of success for women whose friends were not going to college than for women whose friends were interested in college. The results suggest that women who fear success in college fear the disapproval and rejection of their friends. More generally, the results in context of prior literature suggest that fear of success involves expected disapproval by significant others.