Cross-Cultural Validation of the Bem Sex Role Inventory

Abstract

Although the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) is one of the most popular and widely used measurements of psychological masculinity and femininity, its validity in cross-cultural settings remains unverified. To determine the instrument's relevance to the Asian milieu, the 60 BSRI items (20 masculine, 20 feminine, and 20 neutral) and 44 Asian-originated items were administered to 237 South Indian and 210 Malaysian university students, who were asked to rate the desirability of each characteristic for either males or females. Data for each item were analyzed by t-test in accordance with the Bem criteria for both Indian and Malaysian samples. Results revealed that only a small portion of the 104 items were differentiated as masculine or feminine and that there was considerable variation in the overall evaluations of neutral items. In this context, it was concluded that the BSRI is not a valid measurement of psychological androgyny in South India and Malaysia due to cross-cultural differences in M/ F constructs.