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Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences

Perceived Sex Role and Fear of Success: A Study of Urban Working Women in Nigeria
Philip O. Sijuwade

Abstract: The present study was conducted to determine whether relationships exist between sex roles and fear of success. Bem Sex Role Inventory Short Form (BSRISF) and Fear of Success Scale (FOSS) were administered to 110 working urban women in the city of Lagos, Nigeria. The age range of sample was 21-60 years (Mean = 41.07 and S.D. = 10.74). The scores for the masculinity and feminity scales were derived by summing appropriate item scores of BSRISF. Correlation, a statistical method, was applied to see whether there is a significant relationship between masculine and feminine characteristics. The correlation among above mentioned variables was positively significant (0. 23, p<0.05). It shows androgynous trends in urban working women. However, fear of success has been negatively correlated with both masculine scores (-0.25, p<0.01) and feminine scores (-0.24, p<0.05). Total sample (110 Subjects) was divided as masculine 19, feminine 29 androgynous 32 and undifferentiated 30 sex role groups by taking median values on femininity and masculinity scale. The undifferentiated sex role group (M = 12.10 and SD = 4.16) had highest fear of success scores among these groups and mean differences statistically calculated were significant (p<0.05), when compared with androgynous sex role group. Whereas androgynous had lowest fear of success scores (M = 9.37 and SD = 4.94) among these groups and mean differences statistically calculated were significant (p<0.05), when compared with feminine category. Other comparisons of mean were observed to be non-significant. The present study suggests that it is psychological femininity or undiferentiated sex roles rather than actual femininity that predisposes people to fear of success.

How to cite this article
Philip O. Sijuwade , 2008. Perceived Sex Role and Fear of Success: A Study of Urban Working Women in Nigeria. Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences, 5: 324-327.

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