Students and faculty placing themselves in boxes can escape their shyness and inferiorities by learning to be more assertive.

Wednesday, Judy Skorek, a Research Associate for the University Resources for Women, held an informal meeting, called a “brown bag luncheon.”

“Think past the box we tend to put around ourselves,” Skorek said about a warm-up exercise given to the six women who attended the meeting.

The exercise involved connecting nine dots with four lines without lifting the pencil and without drawing a box.

Skorek said assertive behavior is different from aggressive behavior.

“Assertiveness training aims to get people to obtain control of themselves, to be less shy or to be more expressive and not be aggressive or hostile,” she said.

The goals of assertiveness training include an equal balance of power between people involved in different types of situations, where both parties win and there is a resolution of the conflict, Skorek said.

She said assertiveness training involves people speaking up about interpersonal conflicts.

Skorek handed out questionnaires assessing assertiveness that asked 14 questions about various situations concerning special complaints.

She said scores ranged from 14 to 70 with a low score meaning a person is rarely assertive with regard to the mentioned settings and a high score meaning a person is consistently assertive with regard to the situations.

“Most people score between 25 and 50,” Skorek said.

She also said “People tend to lead off the person they’re dealing with.” The other person’s tone of voice impacts reactions to situations, she said.

Skorek read a “Bill of Rights for Winners” taken from a workshop of assertiveness training session done at the University of Maryland.

A winner has the right to refuse requests from others without feeling selfish or guilty, the right to ask for consideration, help and/or affection from others and the right not to have others impose their values on you.

There is an assertiveness workshop from Feb. 28 through March 28, excluding Spring Break. The workshop will meet from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.