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THE ASSERTION TEST

I want you to perform an exercise here that participants in my labor and management motivation programs perform. Remember that, in the P.R.I.C.E. motivation model, the second step - after you have Pinpointed a Behavior that needs changing - is to Record precisely where you are with regard to that Behavior, so that you will have a "baseline" for future measurement. We've just implicitly Pinpointed a Behavior that all of us, to some degree or another, need to work on: the tendency to be either passive or aggressive, and thus to avoid being assertive. Now we move to the Recording step, and ask you to measure your own assertiveness with reference to an Assertion Scale designed to show you how effective you are in asking for what you want.

Begin by looking at the list of situations in Assertion Test (see below), most of which you have probably already encountered at one time or another. Notice that, for each situation, you are to measure two things. In Column A, put down, on a scale of 1 to 5, the degree of discomfort you would feel in performing the individual situational behavior. In Column B, using the same 1 to 5 scale, say how frequently you would perform that behavior anyway, in spite of your discomfort level. When you're finished making those two sets of personal measurements, you'll have two columns of numbers. Total these two columns, so that you have two sums, one indicating your "discomfort degree" and the other indicating your "response probability."

Now, using these totals, determine whether which of the four basic profiles describes your ability to be assertive:
1. Assertive
2. Anxious performer
3. Assertion problem
4. Why bother?

Type 1 - Assertive
Discomfort level less than 87
Response probability less than 106
Type 2 - Anxious performer
Discomfort level more than 87
Response probability less than 106
Type 3 - Assertion problem
Discomfort level more than 87
Response probability more than 106
Type 2 - Why bother?
Discomfort level less than 87
Response probability more than 106

This scale, developed internally at the Tarkenton Productivity Group, is designed to show you not only how assertive you are in your day-to-day interactions with others, but also how effective your particular assertiveness level is, not just in terms of your motivational impact on others, but also in terms of your own internal sense of well-being.

You now have a preliminary "fix" on where you stand with regard to the two variables of Discomfort and Response Probability. How do you interpret this fix?

Come back next week.


ASSERTION TEST

Col A = Degree of discomfort in behaving this way
Scale: 1 = none; 2 = a little; 3 = a fair amount; 4 = much; 5 = very much

Col B = Response probability
Scale: 1 = always do it; 2 = usually; 3 = do it half the time; 4 = rarely do it; 5 = never do it

A B
1. Turn down a request to borrow your car. ____ ____
2. Compliment a friend. ____ ____
3. Ask a favor of someone. ____ ____
4. Resist sales pressure. ____ ____
5. Apologize when you are at fault. ____ ____
6. Turn down a request for a meeting. ____ ____
7. Admit fear and request consideration. ____ ____
8. Tell a person you are intimately involved with when he/she says or does something that bothers you. ____ ____
9. Ask for a raise. ____ ____
10. Admit ignorance in some area. ____ ____
11. Turn down a request to borrow money. ____ ____
12. Ask personal questions. ____ ____
13. Turn off a talkative friend. ____ ____
14. Ask for constructive criticism. ____ ____
15. Initiate a conversation with a stranger. ____ ____
16. Compliment a person you are close to of the opposite sex. ____ ____
17. Request a meeting with a person. ____ ____
18. Your initial request for a meeting is turned down and you ask the person again at a later time. ____ ____
19. Admit confusion about a point under discussion and ask for clarification. ____ ____
20. Apply for a job. ____ ____
21. Ask whether you have offended someone. ____ ____
22. Tell someone that you like them. ____ ____
23. Request expected service when such is not forthcoming; e.g. in a restaurant. ____ ____
24. Discuss openly with the person his/her criticism of your behavior. ____ ____
25. Return defective items to a store. ____ ____
26. Express an opinion that differs from that of the person you are talking to. ____ ____
27. Resist sexual overtures when you are not interested. ____ ____
28. Tell the person when you feel he/she has done something that is unfair to you. ____ ____
29. Tell someone good news about yourself. ____ ____
30. Resist pressure to drink. ____ ____
31. Resist a significant person's unfair demand. ____ ____
32. Quit a job. ____ ____
33. Discuss openly with the person his/her criticism of your work. ____ ____
34. Request the return of borrowed items. ____ ____
35. Receive compliments. ____ ____
36. Continue to converse with someone who disagrees with you. ____ ____
37. Tell a friend or someone with whom you work when he/she does something that bothers you. ____ ____
38. Ask a person who is annoying you in a public situation to stop. ____ ____

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