Comparing fear of success and fear of appearing incompetent among African Americans’ and Whites’ business candidates

Abstract

This research was designed to investigate what differences might exist between graduating African American and White business students regarding achievement motivation as determined by their fear of success and fear of appearing incompetent and whether there exists any moderating influence based upon their attitude toward the role of women in society. The sample consisted of 99 African American students and 102 White students. African Americans scored significantly lower than Whites on the Fear of Appearing Incompetent Scale. Likewise, African American women scored significantly lower than white women on this scale. No differences were found in the scores among African American Males and White males on the Fear of Appearing Incompetent Scale. For the entire sample, those with a progressive view of women scored higher on the Fear of Success Scale than those with traditional views of women. Achievement motivation among the groups of respondents is also evaluated.