It has been suggested that a lack of assertiveness may be an important component of the psychological make-up of bulimic women, and that bulimic women may experience particular difficulties in asserting themselves in interactions with men. In this study, 23 women reporting the symptoms of bulimia by high scores on the Bulimia Test (BULIT) and 21 women reporting low BULIT scorers completed several self-report scales, including the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) before interacting with either a male or a female confederate who made five increasingly demanding requests. In vivo interactions were videotaped and tapes were rated for behavior by a rater blind to subjects' BULIT scores. The results revealed that, compared to low scorers, high scorers on the BULIT obtained significantly higher scores on the BDI, displayed significantly shorter latencies of response to the confederate's requests, and manifested significantly lower overall verbal assertiveness in response to confederate's requests. Compared to other conditions, a disproportionate number of high scorers complied with all requests of the male confederate. (Author/NB)