Abstract
ObjectivesAlthough gender is often acknowledged as a determinant of health, measuring its components, other than biological sex, is uncommon. The Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) quantifies self-attribution of traits, indicative of gender roles. The BSRI has been used with participants across cultures and countries, but rarely in an older population in Brazil, as we have done in this study. Our primary objective was to determine whether the BSRI-12 can be used to explore gender in an older Brazilian population.MethodsThe BSRI was completed by volunteer participants, all community dwelling adults aged 65+ living in Natal, Brazil. Exploratory factor analysis was performed, followed by a varimax rotation (orthogonal solution) for iteration to examine the underlying gender roles of feminine, masculine, androgynous and undifferentiated, and to validate the BSRI in older adults in Brazil.ResultsThe 278 participants, (80 men, 198 women) were 65–99 years old (average 73.6 for men, 74.7 for women). Age difference between sexes was not significant (p = 0.22). A 12 item version of the BSRI (BSRI-12) previously validated among Spanish seniors was used and showed validity with 5 BSRI-12 items (Cronbach=0.66) loading as feminine, 6 items (Cronbach=0.51) loading onto masculine roles and neither overlapping with the category of biological sex of respondent.ConclusionsAlthough the BSRI-12 appears to be a valid indicator of gender among elderly Brazilians, the gender role status identified with the BSRI-12 was not correlated with being male or female.
Highlights
Many researchers use the terms sex and gender interchangeably
This research examines the ability of a short version of the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) to assess gender role in a sample of older Brazilian adults
Prior to performing factor analysis the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy (KMO = .71) was used to ascertain the amount of item-variance shared among variables in the input matrix
Summary
Many researchers use the terms sex and gender interchangeably. Sex is defined physiologically whereas gender is a cultural construct that includes social and psychological factors [1]. Gender is linked to roles and behaviors expected of men and women in a particular culture at a specific time, and may be influenced by education and socioeconomic status. Sex and gender roles are “intertwined; they influence each other in a network of constant reciprocal changing processes” 72) [2], it is possible to measure them separately. This research examines the ability of a short version of the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) to assess gender role in a sample of older Brazilian adults
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