Page No 145-155
Kanika K. Ahuja and Ambika Satija
Lady Shri Ram College for Women, Lajpat Nagar IV
The present study explores fear of success among Hindu Indian and Muslim Arab college
men and women. The sample comprised of one hundred and five college students (45
Muslim Arabs currently studying in India and 60 Hindu Indians; 60 men and 45 women).
Measures used included Fear of Success Scale (Zuckerman and Allison, 1976), Indian
Societal Values Scale (Khandelwal and Dhillon, 2003), and brief interviews. Analyses
included t-test for independent samples and thematic analysis. Results revealed (1)
Hindu Indians and Muslim Arabs differed significantly on three of the four societal values,
with the Arabs being more uncertainty avoiding, collective and masculine than the
Indians, but similar on power distance. (2) Indians and Arabs were found to be similar
on fear of success (3) No significant gender differences in fear of success were found
for the overall sample and for Indians, although, Arab females were significantly lower
on fear of success than Arab males. Thematic analysis revealed that the Arab women
were very proud of being in what they perceived as a gender-appropriate field, namely
education, while the Arab male students seemed a little wary of being in this genderinappropriate field. (4) Fear of success was significantly higher forArabs and men whose
mothers were homemakers than whose mothers were employed. Cross-sex identification
rather than same-sex identification seems to play a more crucial role in determining fear
of success. It is suggested that fear of success is a complex phenomenon that may be
shaped by cultural and familial expectations
.