Videotape Feedback: Effects on Assertive Performance and Subjects' Perceived Competence and Satisfaction

Abstract

Volunteer, unassertive undergraduate students were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups or an assessment-only control group (all ns = 10). Both treatment groups received two individual sessions of modeling, coaching, and behavior rehearsal to five situations judged by themselves to be problematic. After each behavioral rehearsal, subjects assigned to one treatment group received videotape recorded feedback of their rehearsal responses, while subjects in the other treatment group did not view the videotapes made of their role-plays. Analyses of variance on a behavioral measure of assertive performance and a self-report measure of anxiety indicated that the two treatment groups, while not significantly different from each other, were significantly more assertive and less anxious after treatment than the control group. Analyses of variance on self-report measures of subject-perceived competency and satisfaction demonstrated that only subjects who did not receive videotape feedback perceived themselves to be more competent and satisfied than the controls after treatment. Videotape feedback did not appear to add to the effectiveness of modeling, coaching, and behavior rehearsal in promoting assertive behavior.