Sex differences in self-concept.

Abstract

Bdan proposes agency and communion as two fundamental principles differentiating the aggregate of males from that of females. Agency is characteristically and is represenced by such atrributes as objectivity. self-assertion, mastery, and repression; communlon IS and is represented by subjectivity, interpersonal relatedness, cooperation and openness. Fifty male and 50 female introductory psychology studencs (M.,. = 20.2 yr.) described their actual and ideal selves on 10 specially selected semantic differential scales. Analyses of variance on each scale yielded a significant (9 < .05) main effect of se!f-description. For both men and women the mean actual and ideal self-descriptions were different for each of the 10 dimensions (exce~t for dominating-submissive). Ideallv. both men . A . , and women wanted to be more relaxed, calm, outgoing, active, rational, imaginative, tough, unconventional, and humorous. There were significant main effects of sex for the scales tough-tender and rational-emotional. For both actual and ideal selves men described themselves as tough and women described themselves as tender. For both actual and ideal selves men described themselves as mote rational than did the women. There was a significant effect of sex and an inreraction of self-description by sex for the dimension of dominating-submissive. Subsequent t tests indicated men described themselves as more dominating than did women on both the actual and ideal selves; ideally, the men wanted to be even more dominating, in contrast to [he women who showed no shift in chis dimension between their actual and ideal self-descriptions. Of the 40 self-description means 27 (68%) were significantly (I, p < .05) different from a theoretical mean of 4.0, semantic neutrality. The men described their actual selves as slightly active. tough, rational, and dominating. The women described their actual selves as slightly tender, active, conventional, and tense. The men described their ideal selves as quite relaxed, active, outgoing, and tough, slightly dominating. calm. rational, and humorous. The women described their ideal selves as quite relaxed, active, and outgoing, slightly cender. humorous. calm, rational, and imaginadve. Generally, there were more similarities than differences between men and women in their actual and ideal self-descriptions. On the dimensions showing sex differences the men described themselves as more agentic than did the women. supporting Bakan's hypothesis and replicating previous research (2, 3) Men described their actual selves as primarily agentic; ideally they wanted to be even more agentic, i.e.. more tough, dominating. active, and rational. Women described their actual selves as communal (tender). androgynous, i.e., neither dominating nor submissive, rational nor emotional, and somewhat agentic (active, tense) ; ideally, the women wanted to be communal (relaxed, render, imaginative), agentic (active, rational), and somewhat androgynous (neither dominating nor submissive). Neither men nor women were exclusively agentic or communal. Women were less committed to feminine acrual and ideal self-descriptions than men were to masculine self-descriptions.