30 graduate teaching assistants rated 419 students (171 men, 248 women) on assertiveness, aggressiveness, and shyness. A maximum likelihood confirmatory factor analysis produced a single factor; assertiveness and aggressiveness variables correlated positively and the shyness variable correlated negatively with the factor. These results are interpreted as indicating confusion among lay raters as to whether a syndrome of motoric behavior is assertive or aggressive.
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