IS REPRESSION ADAPTIVE - RELATIONSHIPS TO SOCIOEMOTIONAL ADJUSTMENT, ACADEMIC-PERFORMANCE, AND SELF-IMAGE

Of 74 high school students rated on a repression-sensitization continu um, the 17 identified as ''repressors'' were found to have greater fru stration tolerance, better social skills, higher educational performan ce, and less shy and withdrawn behavior when compared to the 40 identi fied as intermediates; they also had a greater sense of global self-wo rth and higher self-image in the scholastic and social content domains . The 17 students identified as ''sensitizers'' did not differ from in termediates on measures of classroom performance or self-image. Result s are discussed in relation to earlier reports of repression as malada ptive.