IMPACT OF SITUATIONAL LEGITIMACY AND ASSERTIVENESS-RELATED ANXIETY DISCOMFORT ON MOTIVATION AND ABILITY TO GENERATE EFFECTIVE CRITICISM RESPONSES/

This study compares the motivation and the quality of criticism respon ses of 697 undergraduates who were divided into three levels of situat ion legitimacy (high, moderate, and low) and two levels (top versus bo ttom 40 percent) of anxiety related to previous generalized assertiven ess behaviours. The impact of gender was also studied. The results sho wed the legitimacy of the situation for a critical response (preassess ed with peer hold-out groups) significantly affected participants' mot ivation to criticize as well as the quality of their critical response s, notwithstanding the poor quality of all criticism responses. Anxiet y related to previous global assertiveness was related to high motivat ion but not to quality of criticism responses. There were no gender ef fects. Results are interpreted within an avoidance learning paradigm w herein the connotative meaning of criticism is incongruent with harmon ious long-term relationships so that it is suppressed until virtually forced by the specifics of highly legitimate situations.