You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
This book is an excellent study of women's fear of success, which is a particularly puzzling phenomenon in view of the increased social permission women now have to participate fully in their own growth and to realize their full human potential. If women no longer feel restrained by parents, husbands, peers, or society, then the basic issue shifts from an external to an internal focus. There are increased opportunities and decreased prejudice, but women have difficulty using these opportunities because they may make them feel unfeminine, unlovable, unable to mother successfully. Some work has been done in defining various inhibitions of achievement in men with relative neglect of the unique developmental situations of women.
Dr. Krueger studies the development of a sense of self in women, pointing out the ways in which it differs from that in men. He probes biological variables and social influences relevant to a woman's performance in various spheres of life. He uses principles of ego psychology, developmental data, and data from therapeutic and analytic experience. He recognizes that outdated concepts of the nature of women continue to play a role unconsciously. Dr. Krueger reviews the role of family and home environment in female development from infancy through adolescence, focusing on gender identity, separation-individuation, narcissism, sexual identity, oedipal phase, and important divergences in the behavior and conditioning of boys and girls. He feels that sex-differentiated parental interaction with infants is present from the moment of birth. One of his thoughtful observations is that most research studies find that girls receive more pressure to be obedient, responsible, and nurturing, while boys receive more pressure to achieve and be self-reliant. Parents make the greatest differentiation between boys and girls in their teaching regarding aggression. This is an important factor in understanding women's fear of success since success is frequently seen as