Is repression adaptive? Relationships to socioemotional adjustment, academic performance, and self-image.
Of 74 high school students rated on a repression-sensitization continuum, the 17 identified as "repressors" were found to have greater frustration tolerance, better social skills, higher educational performance, and less shy and withdrawn behavior when compared to the 40 identified as intermediates; they also had a greater sense of global self-worth and higher self-image in the scholastic and social content domains. The 17 students identified as "sensitizers" did not differ from intermediates on measures of classroom performance or self-image. Results are discussed in relation to earlier reports of repression as maladaptive.
Bybee
J
J
Northeastern University, Boston, USA.
Kramer
A
A
Zigler
E
E
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012094:Repression, Psychology; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012737:Sex Factors; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012938:Social Perception; D013663:Teaching