Women and the Fear of Success: A Problem in Replication

Abstract

The research reported on here attempted replication and expansion of Matina Horner's findings leading to her widely disseminated conclusion that women have a "motivation to avoid success." Seven hundred male and female college students wrote stories to randomly assigned cues concerning success of a male or female medical student. Content analysis showed that the majority of stories contained "fear of success" imagery; there were no significant differences in the percentages of women and men respondents including such imagery in their stories. These and other findings underscore the need for careful examination and replications before tentative concepts in popular or controversial areas become conventional wisdom.