THIS INVESTIGATION HAD THREE MAJOR FOCUSES: (1) THE INFLUENCE OF ASSERTION TRAINING ON PERSONALITY VARIABLES, (2) THE INFLUENCE OF ASSERTION TRAINING ON LOCUS OF CONTROL, AND (3) THE INFLUENCE OF ASSERTION TRAINING ON ACTUAL BEHAVIOR IN A SOCIAL SITUATION. THE 72 SUBJECTS WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE STUDY WERE IN THE PROCESS OF EVALUATION AT THE KANSAS RECEPTION AND DIAGNOSTIC CENTER IN TOPEKA, KANSAS, AFTER HAVING BEEN CONVICTED OF A FELONY PUNISHABLE BY A SENTENCE OF 1 OR MORE YEARS OF IMPRISONMENT IN A STATE CORRECTIONAL FACILITY. SUBJECTS WERE PLACED IN 3 GROUPS OF 24 EACH--THE BEHAVIOR REHEARSAL GROUP, THE DISCUSSION GROUP, AND THE CONTROL GROUP. THE CONTROL GROUP DID NOT RECEIVE ANY ASSERTIVENESS TRAINING. THE DISCUSSION GROUP RECEIVED INFORMATION IN ASSERTIVE BEHAVIOR THEORY AND PARTICIPATED IN DISCUSSIONS. THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP RECEIVED THE BEHAVIOR REHEARSAL, MODELING, AND COACHING TECHNIQUES IN TRAINING. THE ENVIRONMENTAL DEPRIVATION SCALE DETERMINED WHETHER THE MEN CAME FROM ROUGHLY THE SAME SOCIOECONOMIC STRATA; THE MINNESOTA MULTIPHASIC PERSONALITY INVENTORY MEASURED TENDENCIES IN PERSONALITY TRAIT SHIFTS. THE INTERNAL-EXTERNAL SCALE DETERMINED IF THERE WAS A SHIFT IN BELIEFS IN GENERALIZED EXPECTANCY OF INTERNAL VERSUS EXTERNAL CONTROL OF REINFORCEMENT. THE ASSERTION INVENTORY WAS USED AS A MEASURE OF DISCOMFORT AND THE PROBABILITY OF MAKING ASSERTIVE RESPONSES. THE OVERALL DATA DID NOT REVEAL ANY SIGNIFICANT EVIDENCE THAT ASSERTIVE TRAINING DEVELOPED SOCIAL SKILLS BY INFLUENCING PERSONALITY TRAITS, BY CHANGING BELIEFS ABOUT THE CAUSAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN BEHAVIOR AND ITS CONSEQUENCES, OR BY ALTERING THE PROBABILITY OF CHANGING ACTUAL BEHAVIOR. IMPLICATIONS OF RESULTS ARE DISCUSSED. REFERENCES AND DATA ARE PROVIDED. (RCB)