Follingstad, Diane R.

Kilmann, Peter R.

Price, M. Gail

Robinson, Elizabeth A.

Rowland, Kay F.

English

University of Kentucky

University of KentuckyUKnowledgeCRVAW Faculty Journal Articles Center for Research on Violence Against Women1-1976Effects of a Marathon Group on Self-Actualizationand Attitudes Toward WomenPeter R. KilmannUniversity of South Carolina, kilmann@sc.eduDiane R. FollingstadUniversity of South Carolina - Columbia, follingstad@uky.eduM. Gail PriceKay F. RowlandElizabeth A. RobinsonRight click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits you.Follow this and additional works at: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/crvaw_facpubPart of the Psychiatry and Psychology CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Center for Research on Violence Against Women at UKnowledge. It has been accepted forinclusion in CRVAW Faculty Journal Articles by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contactUKnowledge@lsv.uky.edu.Repository CitationKilmann, Peter R.; Follingstad, Diane R.; Price, M. Gail; Rowland, Kay F.; and Robinson, Elizabeth A., "Effects of a Marathon Groupon Self-Actualization and Attitudes Toward Women" (1976). CRVAW Faculty Journal Articles. 63.https://uknowledge.uky.edu/crvaw_facpub/63Effects of a Marathon Group on Self-Actualization and Attitudes Toward WomenNotes/Citation InformationDr. Diane Follingstad had not been a faculty member of the University of Kentucky at the publication time.Digital Object Identifier (DOI)http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/1097-4679(197601)32:1<154::AID-JCLP2270320139>3.0.CO;2-MThis article is available at UKnowledge: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/crvaw_facpub/63EFFECTS OF A MARATHON GROUP ON SELF-ACTUALIZATIONAND ATTITUDES TOWARD WOMEN^PETER R. KILMANN*, DIANE R. FOLLINGSTAD, M. GAIL PRICE,KAY F. ROWLAND AND ELIZABETH A. ROBINSONUniversity of Souih CarolinaPROBLEMThere is a growing impact of the women's liberation movement on the attitudesand role behaviors of females in today's society ^^^ 'K In this regard, living in thehere-and-now rather than in the past and an independent orientation to Ufe havebeen emphasized as desirable characteristics for the liberated woman ^^^/§Jiostrom^^ ' has suggested that self-actualized persons are niore present-oriented and in-dependent than non-self-actualized persons. Thus, it was predicted that womenwho participated in a marathon growth experience designed to increase individuality,self-expression, and independent thought and action would become more present-oriented and independent while they experienced an attitudinal shift towardgreater agreement with tenets generally held by the proponents of women's libera-tion. /'METHODSubjects. The.^sjv^re 28 female undergraduates who volunteered to participatein a 16-hour marathon group that was described as having the purpose of greaterself-understanding and self-awareness. The mean age of the entire sample was22.5, with a range from 19 to 38 years.Treatment. There were two maratjtion groups. Four female predoctoral can-didates in clinical psyc^ology^ functioned as leaders with two leaders in each group.The four leaders collectively decided upon the treatment format prior to the be-ginnmg of the experiment./^ae treatment consisted of a structured personal growth group experience;the same format was used in both groups. The role of the leaders was to help theparticipants to explore their behavioral roles as women in various interpersonalsituations and to involve group members in exercises designed to enhance inter-personal trust and involvement. Participants received feedback on how they wereperceived by the leaders and by other mem^efsTj The leaders and the participantsdiscussed alternative ways to handle interpersonal situations. Communicationexercises, relaxation exercises, and sensory awareness experiences also were usedwithin a here-and-now framework.Measures. The Personal Orientation Inventory {POI). The POI was developedby Shostrom^'' ^^to^easiire'personality characteristics associated with "positivemental health." The test consists of 150 two-choice comparative value statementsthat form 14 scales. Shostrom^*^ suggested that the scores of the two scales thatinclude all the items {i.e.. Time Competence and Inner-Directedness) can be usedas global indices of self-actualization. The raw scores on these scales were con-verted into standard scores as provided by Shostrom^®^; this procedure allows forgreater confidence in the interpretation of change.The_AMudes~TowardWom£n Scale {AWS). The AWS<»' is a 25-item Likert-type scale that contains statements about women's rights and roles in vocational,educational, intellectual, social and sexual activit;ies, and marital relationships andobligations. Each item has four response alternatives that range from agree strongly*The authors would like to acknowledge the statistical consultation of Joan M. Combes andthe helpful assistance of Dale E. Orlando in reviewing the feminist literature.•Requests for reprints should be sent to Peter R. Kilmann, Department of Psychology, Universityof South Carolina, Columbia, S.C. 29208.Hosted in the Center for Research on Violence Against Women institutional repository with written permission from John Wiley & Sons, Inc.Effects of a Marathon Group on Self-Actualization 155to disagree strongly. In the present study, each item was given a score from 1 to 4;4 represented the most traditional and 1 the most contemporary, profeministresponse.Procedure/ The two marathon groups were conducted one weekend apart, andthe same procedure was used at both times. The Ss were assigned randomly to thetreatment or nontreatment conditions before pretesting./The Ss respon^d to j;he test measures 1 day before the'beginning of the mara-" h ^ none ^ the ^ knew whether^ they, were in the marathon orAfter pretesting, {Ke SsTwhb were assigned to the marathond h P h l i l S i C f hI pg, gcondition were instructed to report to the Psychological Service Center of theUniversity of South Carolina 2 days later. The control Ss were instructed to re-port for posttesting 3 days later.The actual time of the 16-hour marathon was from 8:00 A. M. Sunday morninguntil 12:00 P. M. that night. The nriarathon and control >Ss responded to thepostmeasures the day after the marathon. All Ss responded to the same irieasu"res5 weekslifter the^^sf^psttest. ""^RESULTSThere was a significant negative correlation between the Attitudes TowardWomen Scale and Time Competence (r = — .53, p < .01) and Inner-Directedness(r = — .61, p < .001) on the pretest scores for all *Ss. Thus, attitudes consistentwith the profeminist movement were related significantly to a present orientation{i.e.. Time Competence) and an independent, self-supportive outlook {i.e., Inner-Directedness) prior to the marathon experience.Table 1 presents the means and standard deviations of the experimental andcontrol groups on the dependent variables for each testing period (pretest, firstposttest, second posttest). The-data presented in Table 1 were evaluated throughan analysis of covariance design in which the pretreatment scores were used as thecovariate. Significant differences were found between the two marathon groups onthe AWS on the first {F = 13.52, df = 1/16, p < .01) and second (F = 29.37,df = 1/16, p < .001) posttest. Table 1 shows that these significant findings weredue to the fact that the score of group 1 decreased, while the score of Ss in group 2TABLE 1. MEANS AND STANDARD DEVIATIONS OF MARATHON AND CONTROL GROUPS ON ATTITUDESTOWARD WOMEN, TIME COMPETENCE, AND INNER-DIRECTEDNESSMarathon Marathon ControlGroup 1 Group 2 Group(N = 9 ) (N = 10) (N = 9)ScaleAttitudesTowardWomen'TimeCompetence**Inner-Directedness''TestingPretestPoet 1Post 2PretestPost 1Post 2PretestPost 1Post 2M38.835.430.047.452.748.847.756.758.3SD10.09.34.413.74.612.813.46.55.8M42.844.846.347.650.548.742.949.553.8SD12.914.013.612.412.213.59.614.611.9M43.645.644.945.645.646.346.045.646.7SD10.210.99.211.415.015.711.212.411.4'Lower scores indicate greater agreement with profeminist attitudes.''Higher scores indicate higher levels of self-actualization.Hosted in the Center for Research on Violence Against Women institutional repository with written permission from John Wiley & Sons, Inc.156 Journal of Clinical Psychology, January, 1976, Vol. 32, No. 1.remained relatively unchanged. When the two marathon groups were combinedand compared with the control group, a significant difference was found on theInner-Directedness scale on the first [F = 6.10, df = 1/25, p < .05) and second(F = 13.28, df = 1/25, p < .01) posttest, due to the fact that the scores of thetreatment groups increased, while the scores of the control Ss remained relativelyunchanged.Because different leader dyads conducted the two treatment groups, separatecomparisons were made between each treatment group and the control group.The comparison between group 1 and the control group on the first posttestrevealed a significant difference on the AWS {F = 5.59, df = 1/15.. p < .05),which was due to the decrease in score of group 1. A significant difference also wasfound on the Inner-Directedness scale {F = 12.70, df = 1/15, p < .01) due to theincrease in score of group 1. On the second posttest, the difference between group1 and the control group on the AWS became even more significant {F = 54.39,df = 1/15, p < .001). Table 1 shows that the score of group 1 showed greater move-ment in the direction of liberal attitudes toward women, while the control groupremained relatively unchanged from the pretest. Similar to the results of the firstposttest analyses, a significant difference was found on the Inner-Directednessscale in favor of group 1 (F = 17.71, df = 1/15, p < .001.)The comparison between group 2 and the control group on the first posttestyielded a significant difference on the Inner-Directedness scale on the first (F =4.37, df = 1/16, p < .05) and second (F = 10.05, df = 1/16, p < .01) posttest,due to the fact that group 2 reflected an increase in score. No other treatmenteffects were significant.DISCUSSIONThe present study showed that: (1) 16-hour marathon groups facilitated asignificant increase in independence or self-supportedness {i.e., POI scale Inner-Directedness) in the participants that was maintained 5 weeks after the first post-test ; and (2) there was a differential effect with regard to changes in attitudes towardwomen as a function of marathon group membership. <Ss in group 1 experienceda significant shift in the direction of agreement with profeminist attitudes, whichbecame more pronounced on the second posttest. By contrast, Ss in group 2 didnot differ significantly from the control *Ss on either posttest. These findings indi-cate that one marathon session can facilitate both greater agreement with pro-feminist attitudes and an independent orientation that are maintained over timeand that a more pronounced independent, self-supportive orientation is not neces-sarily related to increased agreement with profeminist attitudes^/Thus, in additionto fostering personality changes(«•«• ^' ^\ the marathon group has some utilityin facilitating attitudinal changeSj^The failure to find a significant attitudinal shift in group 2 is somewhat puz-zling in that the <Ss were assigned randomly to groups and the pretest scores of thetwo groups on the AWS were not significantly different from each other (F < 1).Because it is unlikely that one group would have a greater personal predispositionto react against those aspects of the treatment format that dealt wdth attitudestoward women's roles, it is most reasonable to assume that a group effect resultedin the postexperimental discrepancy in attitudes between the two groups. Thisinterpretation gains support from the marathon Ss' ratings of "group climateobtained at the first posttesting period. The S^s rated nine items that reflected theirperceived level of closeness, trust, and confidence in their group on a scale from oneto seven. A comparison of the mean ratings over these items showed that Ss ingroup 1 rated their group significantly higher on these dimensions than did <Ssin group 2 {t = 4.21, df = I7,p < .001). The leaders' subjective impressions furthersuggested that the members of group 2 were not as interested in pursuing issuesrelated to women's interpersonal roles as were the members of group 1. Unfor-Hosted in the Center for Research on Violence Against Women institutional repository with written permission from John Wiley & Sons, Inc.Effects of a Marathon Group on Self-Actualization 157tunately, no effort was made to obtain participant ratings of the leaders, whicjlialso may have been a factor that contributed to the differential changes on t h ^AWS observed in the two groups.Future studies should replicate this study by holding the leader variableconstant across treatment groups. In addition to obtaining participant ratingsof the group and the leaders, it would be valuable to supplement personality testdata with independent assessments of the participants by significant others todetermine the extent of the behavioral correlates associated with greater agreementwith profeminist attitudes. According to Kelman<*\ a crucial determinant ofattitude-action consistency is whether the individual's environment is supportiveand accepting of the behavioral manifestations of the attitude. Thus, both thebroader social climate and the more immediate interpersonal context of an in-dividual need to be considered in the prediction of behavioral changes.SUMMARYThis study investigated the impact of a 16-hour marathon session on levelsof self-actualization and attitudes toward women both 1 day and 5 weeks afterthe group experience. Female undergraduates were assigned randomly to one oftwo marathon groups or to a no-treatment control group, ^s in both marathongroups experienced a significant shift toward increased independence or self-sup-portedness on both posttests. However, a differential group effect was found fromseparate comparisons of each marathon group with the control group on pre-postshifts in attitudes toward women; *Ss in one marathon group reflected significantlygreater agreement with profeminist attitudes on the first posttest and experiencedan even greater shift in that direction on the second posttest, while Ss in the othermarathon group did not differ significantly from the control <Ss on either posttest.REFERENCES1. BUNCH-WEEKS, C. A broom of one's own: Notes on the women's liberation program. In Cooke,J., Bunch-Weeks, C. and Morgan, R. (Eds.) The Neva Woman: Ati Anthology of Woman's Lib-eralion. New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1970.2. CHESLER, P . Wom^n and Madness. Garden City, N. Y.: Doubleday, 1972.3. GREER, G. The Female Eunuch. New York: Bantam, 1971.4. KELMAN, H . C . Attitudes are alive and well and gainfully employed in the sphere of action.Amer. Psychol, 1974, 29, 310-324.5. KiLMANN, P. R., ALBERT, B . M . and SOTILE, W . M . The relationship between locus of control,structure of therapy, and outcome. J. consult, clin. Psychol, 1975, in press.6. KiLMANN, P. R. and AUERBACH, S. M . Effects of marathon group therapy on trait and stateanxiety. / . consult, clin. Psychol, 1974, 4^, 607-612.7. SHOSTROM, E . A. A test for the measurement of self-actualization. Edu^. psychol. Meas., 1965,24, 207-218.8. SHOSTROM, E. A. Manual for the Personal Orientation Inventory. San Diego, Calif.: Educational& Industrial Testing Service, 1966.9. SPENCE, J . T . , HELMREICH, R . and STAPP, J. A short version of the Attitudes toward WomenScale (AWS). Bull Psychon. Soc, 1973, 2, 219-220.Hosted in the Center for Research on Violence Against Women institutional repository with written permission from John Wiley & Sons, Inc.Hosted in the Center for Research on Violence Against Women institutional repository with written permission from John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Effects of a Marathon Group on Self-Actualization and Attitudes Toward Women

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Effects of a Marathon Group on Self-Actualization and Attitudes Toward Women

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