Repression-Sensitization: A Reflection of Test-Taking Set or Personal Adjustment

Abstract
Lefcourt's (1966) finding that repressors view repression-sensitization (R-S) scales as measures of mental illness, while sensitizers view these scales as revealing honesty with one's self was tested. Thirty-six repressors and 36 sensitizers were assigned to three test-taking conditions: Mental Illness, Openness and Honesty, and Control. Results showed that the three test-taking conditions had no effect on the responding of the repressors and sensitizers to the Millimet (1970) Manifest Anxiety-Defensiveness (MAD) Scale, another measure of R-S. Content analysis revealed that repressors and sensitizers viewed their opposites as maladjusted and adjusted, respectively. The results were seen as supporting a personal adjustment view of R-S.