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Fears in American and Israeli Women

1978; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 106; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00224545.1978.9924141

1940-1183

Frank H. Farley, Arie Cohen, Joel Goldberg, Yoel Yinon,

Stress Responses and Cortisol

Summary The characteristics of fears in American and Israeli female college students were studied in terms of the things feared, the intensity and extremity of fear ratings, and the generality of fearfulness across a wide range of stimuli. Two samples of 66 Ss each obtained from American and Israeli universities, and matched pairwise on age, were studied. Fears were assessed by an 88 item fear survey schedule, with an English language and Hebrew version being used. The two samples were compared in terms of generalized fear, extreme fear, item x item differences in fear responses, and in the 10 most feared stimuli in each group. The Israelis had significantly greater generalized fear measured across all stimuli employed, but were not significantly different in the frequency of specific extreme or phobic fears. On 10 stimuli the Israelis reported significantly greater fearfulness; on five stimuli the Americans reported significantly greater fearfulness. The Israelis were notable in the psychiatric implications of some of their greatest fears.