The Famous Sayings Test and Uniqueness

Abstract

The Famous Sayings is disguised personality inventory containing four factor analytically-derived scales: Conventional Mores, Hostdity, Fear of Failure, and Social Acquiescence (Bass, 1958). The present study was done to clarify what this instrument measures by observing the relation of scores to the need for uniqueness, trait defined by Snyder and Fromkin (1977) as nonpathological need toward abnormality expressed by behaviors that serve to differentiate oneself from others. These investigators developed 32-item Uniqueness scale to measure that trait. Two of the factors Snyder and Fromkin (1980) identified as among those comprising this need for uniqueness were described by them as a desire to not always follow rules and a w~llingness to defend his or her beliefs publicly. These factors seem at face value to be at odds with the traits measured by the Conventional Mores and the Social Acquiescence scales. Given this, we priori predicted that Conventional Mores and Social Acquiescence should correlate negatively with the need for uniqueness. University students (41 women and 20 men) enrolled in general psychology classes served as subjects. They were largely Caucasian, of middle class, and of traditional college-attending ages. AU responded to the Famous Sayings test and the Uniqueness scale (Snyder & Fromkin, 1977, 1980). The means (with standard deviations in parenthesis) for these scales were as follows: 98.89 (13.52) for Uniqueness, 43.25 (8.52) for Conventional Mores, 37.36 (6.04) for Hostility, 37.74 (8.60) for Fear of Failure, and 33.15 (8.12) for Social Acquiescence. Uniqueness correlated -.33 with Conventional Mores @<.05), .06 with Hostility, .02 with Fear of Failure, and -.I8 with Social Acquiescence (df = 59 for all Pearson rs). These results indicate that higher Conventional Mores scores tend to be associated moderately with lower Uniqueness scores. We may infer from this that people disposed toward more normative ways of thinking and conduct may in part do so because they are less motivated to establish their selF-definition through being different from others. On the other hand, the ~redicted relation between Social Acquiescence and Uniqueness was not observed, suggesting that some manifestations of conformity are compatible with the need for uniqueness.

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