The paper includes a critical analysis of the conceptualization and measurement of the traditional and nontraditional categories of sex-role orientation along with a redefinition of those categories which parallels deCharms's (1968) categories of origin/pawn. This operational definition was applied to a small-group study which found that, as hypothesized, women with the nontraditional orientation, as identified by their thought samples, were significantly more assertive in group discussion tasks than women with the traditional orientation. The manner by which the thought samples were scored and the characteristic differences between the stories of the "traditional" and "nontraditional" women are also discussed. (Author)