Assertion Questionnaire

This Assertion Questionnaire was developed by Dr. Peter Lewinsohn along with his colleagues Drs. Munoz, Youngren, and Zeiss as part of their work relating depression to a person’s lack of specific social skills, such as assertiveness. The questions on the scale measure both how assertive you are and how comfortable you are with your assertiveness in certain situations.

Assertion is an area of social skill behavior that often causes people difficulty in dealing with others. Assertiveness involves defending ourselves and expressing what we are thinking and feeling. To some, the idea of assertiveness is very negative. They consider assertiveness the same as being obnoxious and demanding. without regard to the feelings of others. Psychologists, however, see assertiveness in a much broader and more positive way. as a healthy means of open expression. Certainly some of the things that a person may express openly can be seen as negative, but being assertive also means being able to share the positive parts of ourselves, our hopes and fears, our affection and concern for others. In this light, assertiveness becomes a very important part of a close, two-way relationship wherein each person trusts the other to be honest and open.

Psychologist Dr. Peter Lewinsohn also sees assertiveness on a very practical level. Dr. Lewinsohn states in his book Control Your Depression,

It [assertiveness] helps avoid or prevent aversive encounters with others; no
one can take advantage of someone who is properly assertive. Second, those who
are appropriately assertive are likely to get more positive feelings from other
people; they express more positive feelings and they receive them in return. . .
.Finally, those who are more appropriately assertive feel better understood by
others.... People can’t know how you feel and show their caring unless you
take the first step of expressing your own thoughts and feelings.

Go over the list of questions twice. First, rate each item using the Frequency Scale ("F" Column). Rate each on how often it has occurred during the past month. Second, rate how comfortable you were when each situation happened, or how comfortable you would be if it were to happen. For this rating, use the Comfort Scale ("C" Column).

As Dr. Lewinsohn points out, there are no right or wrong answers to the items on this questionnaire — its primary purpose is to provide you with information about yourself.

Frequency Scale
Indicate how often each of these events occurred by marking the Frequency Column,
using the following scale:
1 = This has not happened in the past 30 days
2 = This has happened a few times (1 to 6 times) in the past 30 days
3 = This has happened often (7 times or more) in the past 30 days

Comfort Scale
Indicate how you feel about each of these events by marking the Comfort Column, using the following scale:
1 = I felt very uncomfortable or upset when this happened
2 = I felt somewhat uncomfortable or upset when this happened
3 = I felt neutral when this happened (neither comfortable nor uncomfortable; neither good nor upset)
4 = I felt fairly comfortable or good when this happened
5 = I felt very comfortable or good when this happened

Important: If an event has not happened during the past month, then rate it according to how you think you would fed if it happened. If an event happened more than once in the past month, rate roughly how you felt about it on the average.

Questionnaire
1. Turning down a person’s request to borrow my car
F= C=
2. Asking a favor of someone
F= C=
3. Resisting sales pressure
F= C=
4. Admitting fear and requesting consideration
F= C=
5. Telling a person I am intimately involved with that he/she has said or done something that bothers me
F= C=
6. Admitting ignorance in an area being discussed
F= C=
7. Turning down a friend’s request to borrow money
F= C=
8. Turning off a talkative friend
F= C=
9. Asking for constructive criticism
F= C=
10. Asking for clarification when I am confused about what someone has said
F= C=
11. Asking whether I have offended someone
F= C=
12. Telling a person of the opposite sex that I like him/her
F= C=
13. Telling a person of the same sex that I like him/her
F= C=
14. Requesting expected service when it hasn’t been offered (e.g., in a restaurant)
F= C=
15. Discussing openly with a person his/her criticism of my behavior
F= C=
16. Returning defective items (e.g., at a store or restaurant)
F= C=
17. Expressing an opinion that differs from that of a person I am talking with
F= C=
18. Resisting sexual overtures when I am not interested
F= C=
19. Telling someone how I feel if he/she has done something that is unfair to me
F= C=
20. Turning down a social invitation from someone I don’t particularly like
F= C=
21. Resisting pressure to drink alcohol
F= C=
22. Resisting an unfair demand from a person who is important to me
F= C=
23. Requesting the return of borrowed items
F= C=
24. Telling a friend or co-worker when he/she says or does something that bothers me
F= C=
25. Asking a person who is annoying me in a public situation to stop (e.g., smoking on a bus)
F= C=
26. Criticizing a friend
F= C=
27. Criticizing my spouse
F= C=
28. Asking someone for help or advice
F= C=
29. Expressing my love to someone
F= C=
30. Asking to borrow something
F= C=
31. Giving my opinion when a group is discussing an important matter
F= C=
32. Taking a definite stand on a controversial issue
F= C=
33. When two friends are arguing, supporting the one I agree with
F= C=
34. Expressing my opinion to someone I don’t know very well
F= C=
35. Interrupting someone to ask him/her to repeat something I didn’t hear clearly
F= C=
36. Contradicting someone when I think I might hurt him/her by doing so
F= C=
37. Telling someone that he/she has disappointed me or let me down
F= C=
38. Asking someone to leave me alone
F= C=
39. Telling a friend or co-worker that he/she has done a good job
F= C=
40. Telling someone he/she has made a good point in a discussion
F= C=
41. Telling someone I have enjoyed talking with him/her
F= C=
42. Complimenting someone on his/her skill or creativity
F= C=

Scoring the Questionnaire
To find your Assertion Frequency score, add up the numbers you’ve placed in the "frequency" column. Enter your Total Frequency Score here: F = ____

To compute your Assertion Comfort score, add up the numbers you’ve placed in "comfort" column. Enter your Total Comfort Score here: C = ____

Interpreting Your Score
Most people score within the following ranges:

Assertion Frequency: 61-81
Assertion Comfort: 102-137

This means that the typical individual has had most of the listed situations occur at least a few times during the past month. Further, this typical person probably feels at least fairly comfortable with being assertive in several of the situations and neutral to somewhat uncomfortable in some others. If you scored higher than these average scores, you probably know when you’re being appropriately assertive (and would very likely write us a letter telling us that we’re wrong if we said anything different about you).

If you scored near the bottom of the average ranges, it may just have been an unusually nonassertive month for you. Next month may find you acting (and scoring) more assertively, particularly now that you’re thinking about it.

If you scored way below the average ranges, however, lack of assertiveness and discomfort with being assertive may be a real problem and major concern for you. No doubt you spend a lot of time wishing you could tell people how you feel; in fact, you may feel at times like the guy who gets sand kicked into his face at the beach and just lies there and takes it. Unfortunately, no comic-book strength gimmick is going to help you become more assertive. One step, only a first one of several, is taking this test, reading this discussion, and thinking about whether lack of assertiveness is a problem for you. The next step is to move a little closer to doing something about the problem if it indeed does exist for you. A trusted friend may be able to serve as a good listener and help direct you toward more assertive behavior. Some counseling programs dealing with assertiveness training may now be worth the emotional risk. It’s not going to be easy. You’re going to have to be more assertlve m order to work on becoming more assertive. Such a bind is a major reason why professional help in assertiveness training is most often the best way to go.

If you would like to leave a comment, click on the comments link below.

For an index of all blogs, go to Blog Index