Psychological Reports, 1975, 36, 555-560. @ Psychological Reports 1975
CHARACTERISTICS OF MARATHON VOLUNTEERS M. L SELDMAN AND J. F. MCBREARTY Temple University, Phildelphia Summary.-The study was designed to survey the extent of undergraduate interest in marathon groups and to investigate the personaliry characteristics of volunteers for these groups. 367 volunteers and 814 non-volunteers from the same university were compared on levels of dependency and sense of well-being. Findings suggest that volunteers have a lower sense of well-being but greater needs for independence. The results were integrated with previous findings and related to the controversy concerning the level of adjustment of participants in marathons.
Carl Rogers has viewed the encounter-marathon movement as an extremely powerful social phenomenon that has spread widely throughout varied segments of our society. The rapid proliferation of varied forms of these groups has created considerable controversy about the types of individuals actually being served. Are marathon groups really "group therapy for normals" or are they group therapy for candidates for traditional psychotherapy? Rogers asserts that "group therapy is for the person who is already hurting, who has problems and needs help. Encounter groups are for chose who are functioning normally but want to improve their capacity for living within their own sets of relationships" (Rogers, 1967 ) . This differentiation is perhaps analogous 10 different models of emotional health proposed by Lazarus (1963) : the "contented cow" vs "self-actualization." Psychotherapy patients may be seen as individuals who are deeply disturbed, subjectively unhappy and seeking an abatement of tension, anxiety or depression ("contented cow"). Encounter or marathon participants may be presented as functioning individuals seeking growth and actualization ("self-actualization") . This dichotomization of types of participants has received some support (Fiebert, 1968; Argyus, 1968). From their inception on the West Coast, marathons have been linked by their proponents with the "human potential" or "selfactualization" model. Stoller (1968) has emphasized the negation of the mental illness model and the concentration on future and potential, as inherent in the marathon approach. Bach (1966) has claimed that most marathon participants are not emotionally disturbed individuals. H e feels the majority are growth-seeking. Recently, however, an opposing stand has been raised. Blanchard (1970) feels that most "growth" centers have not closely examined their goals. Subsequently, they are quite possibly offering therapy programs for disturbed persons and not properly advising participants of attendant risks. Lakin (1969) has
556
M. L. SELDMAN
&
J. F. MCBREARTY
also raised several ethical issues concerning emerging forms of group interactions. He has seriously questioned whether participants are really "normals" and feels that recently there has been a large influx of maladjusted individuals into these types of groups. Yalom (1969) strongly supports this assertion and has estimated that in California, more disturbed individuals seek help from encounter groups than from psychotherapy. If Lakin and Yalom are correct, there are large numbers of maladjusted individuals participating in groups whose leaders have assumed that members are relatively non-disturbed. This situation, if present, has important practical and ethical considerations. It thus appears important to obtain information about characteristics of participants in marathon and encounter groups. The purpose of the present study was to survey the extent of interest in marathons among undergraduates and to investigate characteristics of undergraduates who volunteer to participate in marathons. An earlier study of undergraduate sensitivity group volunteers by Olch and Snow (1970) provided preliminary information about personality characteristics "important for social living and social interaction." The present study, using large numbers of undergraduates (1,181), was designed to ascertain information about levels of wellbeing and dependency in marathon volunteers compared to non-volunteers. Levels of well-being were assessed to provide data concerning the self-actualization vs therapy controversy mentioned above. Dependency has long been considered a crucial factor in group interaction and was measured in the present study to determine whether individuals seeking this type of group involvement had higher dependency needs than their peers. The results of this study appear to be consistent with the findings of Olch and Snow (1970) and both sets of results are integrated below.
METHOD Subjects Ss were 1,181 college students from Temple University, who attended 38 undergraduate sections in psychology courses (Introductory-29 sections, Abn o r m a l 4 sections, Personality and Adjustment-2 sections and Introduction to Clinical ~ s y c h o l o ~ ~ -sections). 3 Investigator informed students of a marathon group program to be offered in the current semester. Students were advised that the marathon would not be a substitute for psychotherapy and would be primarily aimed at interpersonal sensitivity, personal growth and group dynamics. Individuals wishing co participate completed a short questionnaire which included information about previous psychotherapy and group experience. T o all of the students who were informed that their scores would be kept
CHARACTZRISTICS OF MARATHON VOLUNTEERS
557
confidential and were needed for standardization purposes, the investigator then administered personality scales from the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (Edwards, 1959) and California Psychological Inventory ( Gough, 1964) .' N o connection was made between the personality measures and the marathons. Interested students vs non-interested students were compared by sex on the personali ty scales. Dependent Variables3 The dependent variables consisted of personality scales from the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS) to measure dependency needs and a scale from the California Psychological Inventory (CPI) to measure sense of well-being. Dependency.-A specific combination of three scales of the EPPS was used as a self-descriptive measure of dependency needs. The EPPS assesses fifteen normal personality variables and is based on responses to statements which purport to reflect manifest needs. These statements are matched in pairs to balance social desirability. The three scales utilized were Deference, Succorance and Autonomy. Since a major interest of the study was dependency these were the only scales of the EPPS used. The items for each subscale were taken from the main inventory in the order in which they appeared and presented in a special booklet containing only these items. The scores for each scale were combined in the following way Succorance) - Autonomy. to obtain a score for dependency: (Deference Heller and Goldstein ( 1961) used (Deference Succorance) - Autonomy as a self-descriptive measure of dependency along with behavioral measures. They found both measures were significantly correlated with clients' attraction to the therapist. Adjustment and well-being.-The Sense of Well-being Scale of the California Psychological Inventory was used to assess levels of adjustment and subjective feelings of well-being. The subjects were presented with 54 items of the inventory. All 44 items were from the well-being scale plus 10 filler items from the rest of the inventory disguised the nature of the scale. The purpose of the scale is to "identify persons who minimize their worries and complaints, and who are relatively free from self-doubt and disillusionment" (Gough, 1964).
+
+
RESULTSAND DISCUSSION Percentages were compiled on the proportion of students interested in participating in marathons by sex. 'Items were reproduced by permission for research purposes only. Copyright 1953 by the Psychological Corporation, New York, N. Y. All rights reserved. 'Items were reproduced by special permission from the California Psychological Inventory, by Harrison G. Gough, Ph.D., 1956, Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc. Since there is evidence that item responses obtained to selected items isolated from the context of a personalicy inventory may not be comparable to those obtained within the context, the results of this research should not be considered applicable to the standardized complete form of the inventory.
M. L. SELDMAN
558
8: J. F. MCBREARTY
TABLE 1
S ~ E N TINTERESTED S IN ~ ~ R A T H OPARTICIPATION N N
Group Total Ss Total Ss (completed measures)
Interested
1252 1181
Interested
(N)
(%)
392 367
31.3 31.1
A total of 1,252 students were advised about the marathons, and all were asked to complete the personality measures. Of these 1,181 completed the measures. Three hundred and ninety-two students indicated a desire to participate in the marathons and completed information forms. Of these, 367 completed the personality measures. For the 1,181 Ss who completed the measures, the distribution by sex shown in Table 2 held. Thus, of the 610 males, 29.8% were interested in attending the marathons; of the 571 females, 32.4% were interested. TABLE 2
STUDENTS BY SEXWHOCOMPLETED MEASURES Male Female
Interested
Not Interested
Total
182
428
610
185
386
571
A two-way analysis of variance was performed to assess differences by sex between interested ( I ) and noninterested (N-I) Ss on each measure of wellbeing and dependency. Noninterested Ss had significantly stronger dependency needs ( p < ,001). In addition, females indicated stronger dependency needs than males ( p < .001). The latter findings supports previous normative findings (Edwards, 1959). The dependency score is made up of three scales of the EPPS: Deference, Succorance and Autonomy. Noninterested Ss indicated significantly higher need for deference ( p < .01). There were no significant differences between interested and noninterested Ss, but females scored higher on succorance need ,001). Interested Ss had stronger needs for autonomy (p than men ( p .001), particularly men ( p < .001). Wich regard to sense of well-being, a significant interaction effect showed that interested females had lower senses of well-being ( p < .05) than noninterested females and interested males. The survey data indicate that roughly one-third of the students (31.3%) returned completed forms indicating interest in participating in a marathon. In a comparably designed survey Doley (1964) asked 158 students if they wanted counseling and got 63 yesses (39.9%). While this suggests some similarity in rate of volunteering, such a comparison should be handled with caution. The issue warrants further study.
CHARACTERISTICS OF MARATHON VOLUNTEERS M. L SELDMAN AND J. F. MCBREARTY Temple University, Phildelphia Summary.-The study was designed to survey the extent of undergraduate interest in marathon groups and to investigate the personaliry characteristics of volunteers for these groups. 367 volunteers and 814 non-volunteers from the same university were compared on levels of dependency and sense of well-being. Findings suggest that volunteers have a lower sense of well-being but greater needs for independence. The results were integrated with previous findings and related to the controversy concerning the level of adjustment of participants in marathons.
Carl Rogers has viewed the encounter-marathon movement as an extremely powerful social phenomenon that has spread widely throughout varied segments of our society. The rapid proliferation of varied forms of these groups has created considerable controversy about the types of individuals actually being served. Are marathon groups really "group therapy for normals" or are they group therapy for candidates for traditional psychotherapy? Rogers asserts that "group therapy is for the person who is already hurting, who has problems and needs help. Encounter groups are for chose who are functioning normally but want to improve their capacity for living within their own sets of relationships" (Rogers, 1967 ) . This differentiation is perhaps analogous 10 different models of emotional health proposed by Lazarus (1963) : the "contented cow" vs "self-actualization." Psychotherapy patients may be seen as individuals who are deeply disturbed, subjectively unhappy and seeking an abatement of tension, anxiety or depression ("contented cow"). Encounter or marathon participants may be presented as functioning individuals seeking growth and actualization ("self-actualization") . This dichotomization of types of participants has received some support (Fiebert, 1968; Argyus, 1968). From their inception on the West Coast, marathons have been linked by their proponents with the "human potential" or "selfactualization" model. Stoller (1968) has emphasized the negation of the mental illness model and the concentration on future and potential, as inherent in the marathon approach. Bach (1966) has claimed that most marathon participants are not emotionally disturbed individuals. H e feels the majority are growth-seeking. Recently, however, an opposing stand has been raised. Blanchard (1970) feels that most "growth" centers have not closely examined their goals. Subsequently, they are quite possibly offering therapy programs for disturbed persons and not properly advising participants of attendant risks. Lakin (1969) has
556
M. L. SELDMAN
&
J. F. MCBREARTY
also raised several ethical issues concerning emerging forms of group interactions. He has seriously questioned whether participants are really "normals" and feels that recently there has been a large influx of maladjusted individuals into these types of groups. Yalom (1969) strongly supports this assertion and has estimated that in California, more disturbed individuals seek help from encounter groups than from psychotherapy. If Lakin and Yalom are correct, there are large numbers of maladjusted individuals participating in groups whose leaders have assumed that members are relatively non-disturbed. This situation, if present, has important practical and ethical considerations. It thus appears important to obtain information about characteristics of participants in marathon and encounter groups. The purpose of the present study was to survey the extent of interest in marathons among undergraduates and to investigate characteristics of undergraduates who volunteer to participate in marathons. An earlier study of undergraduate sensitivity group volunteers by Olch and Snow (1970) provided preliminary information about personality characteristics "important for social living and social interaction." The present study, using large numbers of undergraduates (1,181), was designed to ascertain information about levels of wellbeing and dependency in marathon volunteers compared to non-volunteers. Levels of well-being were assessed to provide data concerning the self-actualization vs therapy controversy mentioned above. Dependency has long been considered a crucial factor in group interaction and was measured in the present study to determine whether individuals seeking this type of group involvement had higher dependency needs than their peers. The results of this study appear to be consistent with the findings of Olch and Snow (1970) and both sets of results are integrated below.
METHOD Subjects Ss were 1,181 college students from Temple University, who attended 38 undergraduate sections in psychology courses (Introductory-29 sections, Abn o r m a l 4 sections, Personality and Adjustment-2 sections and Introduction to Clinical ~ s y c h o l o ~ ~ -sections). 3 Investigator informed students of a marathon group program to be offered in the current semester. Students were advised that the marathon would not be a substitute for psychotherapy and would be primarily aimed at interpersonal sensitivity, personal growth and group dynamics. Individuals wishing co participate completed a short questionnaire which included information about previous psychotherapy and group experience. T o all of the students who were informed that their scores would be kept
CHARACTZRISTICS OF MARATHON VOLUNTEERS
557
confidential and were needed for standardization purposes, the investigator then administered personality scales from the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (Edwards, 1959) and California Psychological Inventory ( Gough, 1964) .' N o connection was made between the personality measures and the marathons. Interested students vs non-interested students were compared by sex on the personali ty scales. Dependent Variables3 The dependent variables consisted of personality scales from the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS) to measure dependency needs and a scale from the California Psychological Inventory (CPI) to measure sense of well-being. Dependency.-A specific combination of three scales of the EPPS was used as a self-descriptive measure of dependency needs. The EPPS assesses fifteen normal personality variables and is based on responses to statements which purport to reflect manifest needs. These statements are matched in pairs to balance social desirability. The three scales utilized were Deference, Succorance and Autonomy. Since a major interest of the study was dependency these were the only scales of the EPPS used. The items for each subscale were taken from the main inventory in the order in which they appeared and presented in a special booklet containing only these items. The scores for each scale were combined in the following way Succorance) - Autonomy. to obtain a score for dependency: (Deference Heller and Goldstein ( 1961) used (Deference Succorance) - Autonomy as a self-descriptive measure of dependency along with behavioral measures. They found both measures were significantly correlated with clients' attraction to the therapist. Adjustment and well-being.-The Sense of Well-being Scale of the California Psychological Inventory was used to assess levels of adjustment and subjective feelings of well-being. The subjects were presented with 54 items of the inventory. All 44 items were from the well-being scale plus 10 filler items from the rest of the inventory disguised the nature of the scale. The purpose of the scale is to "identify persons who minimize their worries and complaints, and who are relatively free from self-doubt and disillusionment" (Gough, 1964).
+
+
RESULTSAND DISCUSSION Percentages were compiled on the proportion of students interested in participating in marathons by sex. 'Items were reproduced by permission for research purposes only. Copyright 1953 by the Psychological Corporation, New York, N. Y. All rights reserved. 'Items were reproduced by special permission from the California Psychological Inventory, by Harrison G. Gough, Ph.D., 1956, Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc. Since there is evidence that item responses obtained to selected items isolated from the context of a personalicy inventory may not be comparable to those obtained within the context, the results of this research should not be considered applicable to the standardized complete form of the inventory.
M. L. SELDMAN
558
8: J. F. MCBREARTY
TABLE 1
S ~ E N TINTERESTED S IN ~ ~ R A T H OPARTICIPATION N N
Group Total Ss Total Ss (completed measures)
Interested
1252 1181
Interested
(N)
(%)
392 367
31.3 31.1
A total of 1,252 students were advised about the marathons, and all were asked to complete the personality measures. Of these 1,181 completed the measures. Three hundred and ninety-two students indicated a desire to participate in the marathons and completed information forms. Of these, 367 completed the personality measures. For the 1,181 Ss who completed the measures, the distribution by sex shown in Table 2 held. Thus, of the 610 males, 29.8% were interested in attending the marathons; of the 571 females, 32.4% were interested. TABLE 2
STUDENTS BY SEXWHOCOMPLETED MEASURES Male Female
Interested
Not Interested
Total
182
428
610
185
386
571
A two-way analysis of variance was performed to assess differences by sex between interested ( I ) and noninterested (N-I) Ss on each measure of wellbeing and dependency. Noninterested Ss had significantly stronger dependency needs ( p < ,001). In addition, females indicated stronger dependency needs than males ( p < .001). The latter findings supports previous normative findings (Edwards, 1959). The dependency score is made up of three scales of the EPPS: Deference, Succorance and Autonomy. Noninterested Ss indicated significantly higher need for deference ( p < .01). There were no significant differences between interested and noninterested Ss, but females scored higher on succorance need ,001). Interested Ss had stronger needs for autonomy (p than men ( p .001), particularly men ( p < .001). Wich regard to sense of well-being, a significant interaction effect showed that interested females had lower senses of well-being ( p < .05) than noninterested females and interested males. The survey data indicate that roughly one-third of the students (31.3%) returned completed forms indicating interest in participating in a marathon. In a comparably designed survey Doley (1964) asked 158 students if they wanted counseling and got 63 yesses (39.9%). While this suggests some similarity in rate of volunteering, such a comparison should be handled with caution. The issue warrants further study.
