Secondary school coeducation and the fears of success and failure

These data were collected to assess the long-term effects of secondary school coeducation. The study was a follow-up of Shinn's Secondary School Coeducation and the Fear of Success and Failure, 1972-1973, A081, which investigated cross-sex competition by testing participants on fear of success and failure and on performance measures both before and after their school became coeducational. By retesting Shinn's participants, Zeitlin assessed performance and the degree to which the negative effects of coeducation reported by Shinn were long-lasting.

The sample consisted of 24 participants, 15 females and 9 males; 2 males participated in both sessions of Shinn's study. Zeitlin's participants were either seniors in college, or one or two years out of college at the time of follow-up, six years after the original data were collected.

Instruments administered included four verbal Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) cues, an abridged version of the Alpert-Haber Achievement Test, the Generation Anagram Performance measure, the Spence Personal Attitude Scale, and an extensive questionnaire to assess background and coping variables.

The Murray Center has acquired the completed instruments and some of the computer-accessible data (25 of the 56 variables). Shinn's original data from this sample are also held by the Murray Center.