The hypothesis that people who are assertive are also more selfaccepting and less anxious was tested by administering to 100 psychiatric outpatients an assertive inventory, a self-acceptance scale, and an anxiety measure. Results showed a substantial positive relationship for both men and women between the assertive inventory and the self-acceptance measure and a strong negative correlation for women only between the assertive inventory and the anxiety measure.
To test whether group assertive training would increase self-esteem and reduce general level of anxiety, as well as teach assertive skills, 24 patients were assigned to either an assertive training group or a relationship-control group for eight sessions. Subjects in the assertive training group showed significant increases in assertiveness, self-acceptance and significant decreases in anxiety relative to controls.