Effects of anxiety and defense in a therapy-like situation.

The major hypotheses were that (a) high-anxious (HA) Ss talk with less spontaneity and affect in an ambiguous condition than in a more structured one, while for low-anxious (LA) Ss the reverse relationship obtains; (b) LA Ss talk with less affect and spontaneity than HA Ss. S2 HA and LA women were each instructed to talk as a patient might in therapy. 2 sets of instructions used were intended to vary in ambiguity. HA Ss did talk with greater affect and spontaneity than LA Ss, and the predicted interaction with ambiguity occurred. The results suggested that the anxiety scale constituted a measure of defensive style. Further, the usual "HA" group is not homogeneous, but contains at least 2 subgroups.