The present study compared the effects of assertion with that of progressive relaxation training in systematic desensitization. Nineteen Ss were selected on the basis of exemplifying high debilitating test anxiety according to Alpert and Haber's (1960) Achievement Anxiety Test. Results showed that test anxious Ss who received either relaxation or assertive training experienced a significantly greater reduction in debilitating test anxiety on both the post- (p less than 0.001) and six week follow-up (p less than 0.01) measures than no-treatment control Ss with corresponding pre-treatment scores. Although the post-treatment measure indicated that relaxation was significantly more effective than assertion, the six week follow-up failed to reveal a significant difference between the two parameters. In addition, assertive training was shown to bring about a significant reduction in test anxiety in almost half the time as relaxation. (Author)