Bernhard Schieber

Rathus Assertiveness Schedule: Separate Directness from Effectiveness

Communication · Executive Insight Brief · 175

More direct is not always better

A self-report total records endorsed behavior across thirty described situations, and cannot define appropriate or competent conduct in any of them.

Premise

Organizations often treat assertiveness as an uncomplicated leadership virtue. The Rathus Assertiveness Schedule makes the construct measurable, but it also exposes why that assumption is unsafe. The score reflects endorsement of behaviors associated with expressing needs, disagreement, requests, preferences, or rights. It does not determine whether greater directness is respectful, effective, culturally appropriate, or safe in a particular hierarchy. Its executive use is to identify where further behavioral inquiry is warranted.

Rathus Assertiveness Schedule — More direct is not always better. Executive Insight Brief 175 by Bernhard Schieber.

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