Empirical and conceptual issues in the delineation of the construct of assertiveness can be viewed from the perspectives of social, personality, and clinical psychology. Results from a social psychological research program aimed at defining the nature and determinants of assertiveness suggest a need for replication to other subject populations, interpersonal situations, and assertion behaviors to examine problems of continued assertiveness over time, differences in interactions with members of the same or opposite sex, and differences in nonverbal and verbal assertive behaviors. An integrative approach to examining assertiveness is possible through use of empirical clinical methodology whose fundamental guidelines include: (1) an openness to, and quest for, change and diversity in clinical intervention; (2) a reliance on systematic scientific hypothesis testing as a model for clinical intervention; and (3) a commitment to structuring clinical interventions so that clients are taught to control their lives autonomously. (Author)