Anxiety and actualization: a reconceptualization

In line with Dabrowki's theory of Positive Disintegration, deGrace recently reported no significant difference in terms of anxiety level between groups of actualized and nonactualized Ss. Several methodological and theoretical flaws noted in the deGrace study led the present authors to hypothesize that actualized Ss would score significantly lower than nonactualized Ss on separate but conceptually related measures of manifest or neurotic anxiety. Ss (83 females and 42 males) were administered the Personal Orientation Inventory, the IPAT Anxiety Scale, and the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale. The results, which substantiate the hypothesis that levels of actualization and anxiety are correlated negatively, are discussed in relation to the conceptual distinction between debilitating and facilitating anxiety and their respective effects on psychological growth.