The Fear of Success Scale (FOSS) was written by Miron Zuckerman and Stephen N. Allsion and published in the Journal of Personality Assessment in 1976.
The test is a self-report Likert scale that can be used in different environments. There are twenty-seven questions approximately divided into questions about high or low levels of fear. The test was administered to a smaller group of people which indicates that it is a non-standardized test, providing information about their fear of success. There was no indication of the test being used in a specific setting. Therefore, the test may be labeled as an aptitude or personality test depending on the environment. If the test is to be used in an organizational setting, …show more content…
The FOSS test was given to undergraduate students. There was no specific ages and populations being tested. It can be assumed that the test is intended for young adults and adults. During the construction of the test, the authors took into account Horner’s projective measure of fear of success and the distinct differences of scoring between sexes and later divided both female and male data (Zuckerman & Allison, 1976).
D. The FOSS test was designed to see individuals comprehension of their motives and avoidance of success (Zuckerman & Allison, 1976). An appropriate use of the test can be used in a correctional facility. A person who scores low in the FOSS can be an indication that they are motivated in reaching goals and have a different perspective of living prior to releasement.
E. The test is looking for the high fear of success and low fear of success. The test is homogenous, only testing the characteristic of fear. Each gender is given the same testing but have different results. The FOSS test looked into to the sex differences after following up on Horner’s work and how positively related it was (Zuckerman & Allison, …show more content…
A way of finding reliability in the test is to use a test-retest method. Administering the test in separate points can be used while looking into how they feel in their academic grade level. The samples that the were tested were undergraduate students, if the test is to be given in a time of transition into graduate school there may be different results. Using parallel forms, researchers may decrease random error by obtaining a more accurate score. Again, this can depend in which setting the test is administered in and in the persons current way of living. An example that the test may be used, is to test motivation can be used in a motivational seminar. The FOSS test can be given before and after a lecture and researchers can determine if people are more likely to want to seek their goals after listening to a motivational speaker. In the internal structure of the test, it seems as if there are other underlying concepts that can be measured. As a self-report, it says a lot about how a person feels about oneself and can be used before or after personality tests. The test is compared to Horney’s test, which is argued to be a stereotyped because it uses male and female names which can result in a sex to respond to a female or male name (Zuckerman & Allison, 1976). The validity of the test can be improved if it is revised. The test was written in 1970’s and is outdated. Stereotypes of women being successful has changed dramatically as social movements are favoring and support