Measurement Of Psychological Androgyny Research Articles

Social judgment, sport and gender: a cognitive asymmetry?

Cette etude examine si le sport peut encore etre vu comme un domaine masculin et comment la norme masculine peut influencer la categorisation de sexe des athletes. Dans l’etude 1, les participants sont invites a lire un article de journal fictif sur lequel se trouve une photographie d’un athlete homme ou femme. Trois sports sont utilises : le patinage sur glace, le rugby et le badminton. Apres avoir lu l’article, les participants devaient evaluer le genre de l’athlete en remplissant le BSRI de Bem, S.L. (1974). Measurement of psychological androgyny. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42, 155–162. Doi : 10.1037/h0036215. Tous les athletes sont percus haut sur la dimension masculine. Seule l’evaluation de la dimension feminine varie selon le type de sport pratique (masculin ou feminin) suggerant ainsi une asymetrie cognitive. Pour confirmer cette hypothese, les participants etaient invites a decrire le plus precisement possible une photo d’athlete (etude 2). Les resultats confirment l’hypothese d’asymetrie cognitive. L’ensemble de ces recherches montre comment l’asymetrie sociale interagit avec les indices sportifs pour faconner la categorisation.

Gendered perceptions of typical engineers across specialties for engineering majors

ABSTRACTYoung women do not choose to be engineers nearly as often as young men, and they tend to cluster in particular specialties when they do. We examine these patterns and the role of gender schemas as applied to perceptions of typical engineers in understanding the choices that women make in terms of engineering specialties. We use Part 1 of two waves of survey data collected from first-year engineering students at a large Midwestern university in the fall of 2014. Respondents scored typical engineers on 60 items from the Bem Sex-Role Inventory [Bem, S. L. 1974. “The Measurement of Psychological Androgyny.” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 42: 155–162]. Preliminary results show that women consider the typical engineer to be more masculine compared to the impressions gathered from men. Additionally, engineering gender schemas predict some specialty areas but not all, suggesting that gendered perceptions may not affect choice of specialty. Our results provide insight into the decisions that women make once entering engineering.

Gender Identity and Gender Role Orientation in Female Assigned Patients with Disorders of Sex Development

Gender identity and gender role orientation were assessed in 24 female assigned patients with disorders of sex development. A total of 16 patients were prenatally exposed to androgens, of whom 15 had congenital adrenal hyperplasia and 1 was virilized due to maternal tumor. Eight patients had 46,XY karyotype, of whom 5 had partial and 3 had complete androgen insensitivity syndrome. Gender identity was measured by the 27-item Gender Identity/Gender Dysphoria Questionnaire for Adolescents and Adults with 167 female medical students as controls, and gender role was assessed by the femininity and masculinity subscales of the 30-item Bem Sex Role Inventory with 104 female and 64 male medical students as controls. No patient reached the cutoff for gender identity disorder on the Gender Identity/Gender Dysphoria Questionnaire for Adolescents and Adults. However, patients with 46,XY karyotype demonstrated a somewhat more conflicted gender identity, although the overall differences were relatively small. As to gender role orientation, patients with complete androgen insensitivity syndrome had high scores on the femininity and masculinity scales of the Bem Sex Role Inventory, which made them the most androgynous group. Our findings, although clinically not clear cut, suggest that patients with disorders of sex development are a heterogeneous group regarding gender identity and gender role outcomes, and that this issue should be discussed with the family when treatment plans are made.

Changes in masculine and feminine traits over time: A meta-analysis

Sixty-three samples providing single-sex means on the Bem Sex-Role Inventory [BSRI; S. L. Bem (1974) “The Measurement of Psychological Androgyny,”Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Vol. 42, pp. 155–162] and 40 reporting similar data on the Personal Attributes Questionnaire [PAQ; J. T. Spence and R. L. Helmreich (1978)Masculinity and Feminity, Austin University of Texas Press] for American undergraduates were located and analyzed. Women’s scores on the BSRI-M and PAQ-M (masculine) scales have increased steadily over time (r’s = .74 and .43, respectively). Women’s BSRI-F and PAQ-F (feminine) scale scores do not correlate with year. Men’s BSRI-M scores show a weaker positive relationship with year of administration (r = .47). The effect size for sex differences on the BSRI-M has also changed over time, showing a significant decrease over the twenty-year period. The results suggest that cultural change and environment may affect individual personalities; these changes in BSRI and PAQ means demonstrate women’s increased endorsement of masculine-stereotyped traits and men’s continued nonendorsement of feminine-steretyped traits.

Children's gender-related self-perceptions, activity preferences, and occupational stereotypes: A test of three models of gender constructs

Fourth through sixth grade boys (n= 197) and girls (n= 271) were given a simplified form of the Personal Attributes Questionnaire [J. T. Spence and R. L. Helmreich (1978b) The Intermediate Personal Attributes Questionnaire: A Simplified Version for Children and Adults, unpublished manuscript, Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin], assessing desirable instrumental and expressive traits; subsets of items from J. P. Boldizar's [(1991) “Assessing Sex Typing and Androgyny in Children: The Children's Sex Role Inventory,” Developmental Psychology,Vol. 27, pp. 505–513] children's version of the Bem Sex Role Inventory [S. L. Bem (1974) “The Measurement of Psychological Androgyny,” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Vol. 42, 155–162]; S. L. Harter's [(1985) Manual for the Self-Perception Profile for Children, Denver: University of Denver] measures of self-esteem; and measures of masculine and feminine activity preferences and prescriptive occupational stereotypes. The children were predominantly white and from middle-class backgrounds. The correlations among the gender-related measures were more congruent with a multifactorial approach to gender than the unifactorial gender schema model or the two-factor model of masculinity and femininity. Instrumentality, however, was correlated with self-esteem in both genders, a finding most reasonably interpreted in terms of this personality variable per se.

Right-wing authoritarianism, political affiliation, religiosity, and their relation to psychological androgyny

The authoritarian personality is characterized by a traditional attitude towards gender roles that reflects its conservative ideology [T. W. Adorno, E. Frenkel-Brunswik, D. J. Levinson, and R. N. Sanford (1950) The Authoritarian Personality, New York: Norton]. The present study investigated the relationship between S. L. Bem's [(1974) sex roles “The Measurement of Psychological Androgyny,” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Vol. 42, pp. 155–162], on the one hand, and right-wing authoritarianism [RWA; B. Altemeyer (1988) Enemies of Freedom: Understanding Right-Wing Authoritarianism, San Francisco], political affiliation, and religiosity level, on the other. Subjects were 365 Jewish undergraduate students (227 women and 138 men) at a number of universities; 81 were second generation Israelis, 90 were children of Ashkenazic parents, 75 were children of Sephardic parents, and 113 were children of parents from mixed background. They completed Altemeyer's RWA scale and a shortened version of Bem's Sex Role Inventory. Political affiliation and religiosity level (variables strongly linked to the authoritarian personality theory) were also measured. Among women, the RWA mean score of the cross-sex typed subjects was significantly lower than that of the sex-typed and the undifferentiated subjects, and most of the cross-sex typed women supported the political left and defined themselves as secular, while among men, no statistically significant RWA, political affiliation, and religiosity differences were found between Bem's four personality types. These results highlight gender differences in the relationships between authoritarian personality and gender-role identification. While it seems that cross-sex-typed women tend to rebel against the status quo, the question of why similar patterns do not appear among men still remains open to speculation.

Attribution of gender to a gender-unspecified individual: An evaluation of the people = male hypothesis

J. Silveira [(1980), “Generic Masculine Words and Thinking,” Women's Studies International Quarterly, Vol. 3, pp. 165–178] suggested that most individuals adopt a “people = male” bias evidenced by gender-unspecified individuals being attributed male gender. We evaluated whether subject gender, subject status on the Bem Sex Role Inventory [BSRI; S. L. Bem (1974), “The Measurement of Psychological Androgyny,” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Vol. 42, pp. 155–162], or situational context would affect the likelihood of subjects attributing male gender to a gender-unspecified individual. College students of primarily European-American descent (82 females and 85 males) read one of three dialogue scripts. Following memory distraction tasks, subjects attributed gender to the target character. Across scripts, there was a strong people = male bias, as subjects were more likely to attribute male, rather than female, gender to the target character. Neither subject gender or BSRI classification affected this bias. Situational context in the scripts had a marginally significant effect.

A further validation of the bem sex role inventory: A multitrait-multimethod study

The present study used a multitrait-multimethod technique [D.T. Campbell and D. W. Fiske (1959) “Convergent and Discriminant Validation by the Multitrait-Multimethod Matrix,” Psychological Bulletin, 56, 81–105] to examine Bem's [(1974) “The Measurement of Psychological Androgyny,” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42, 152–162] use of an instrumental-expressive dichotomy to conceptualize the Masculinity and Femininity scales of the Bem Sex Role Inventory as statistically orthogonal constructs. Results indicate that while perhaps reliable, masculinity and femininity lack clear convergent and discriminant validity. Therefore, Bem's contention that masculinity and femininity are orthogonal constructs is questioned. Results are discussed in light of trait- vs. method-driven research.

Can androgyny be assessed with a single scale?

The measurement of psychological androgyny has been widely discussed in the literature. Several approaches have been tried: simple differences in Masculine-Feminine scores, median splits, and continuous scores. This study was an attempt to determine if a bipolar M-F scale centered with an Androgyny midpoint would yield similar results to those on Bern's widely used measurement of androgyny. The results suggest the concept of androgyny may be specific to the scale used.

Perceptual differences in gender ideals among heterosexual and homosexual males and females

The relationship between sexual oreintation (heterosexuality vs. homosexuality) and perceptions of self, ideal male, and ideal female was investigated. Using the Androgyny scale of the Bex Sex Role Inventory [S. L. Bem, “The Measurement of Psychological Androgyny,” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1974, 42(2), 155–162] data were analyzed for 144 male and female subjects. The results indicated that homosexual, compared to heterosexual, subjects were least likely to stereotype their three perceptions, yet showed a significant difference between their perceived self and their same-sex ideals. Moreover, homosexual females were the only group to show a significant difference between their perceptions of the ideal male and ideal female, and to categorize all their perceptions within an androgynous range. Furthermore, they were least likely to utilize traditional sex roles in organizing their perceptions. Finally, the homosexual males, although not as extreme as heterosexual males, still maintain a slight tendency to stereotype their perception of an ideal male.

Sex role orientations of male and female collegiate athletes from selected individual and team sports

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether the sex role orientations of male and female collegiate athletes were more similar in team sports than in individual sports. It was predicted that females in masculine-oriented team sports (basketball and volleyball) would exhibit sex role orientations more similar to those of their male counterparts than would females in individual sports (track/field and swimming). To test this notion the S. L. Bem (“The Measurement of Psychological Androgyny, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1974, 42, 155–167) Sex Role Inventory was administered to 381 athletes from 37 National Collegiate Athletic Association institutions. The median-split procedure (S. L. Bem, “On the Utility of Alternative Procedures for Assessing Psychology Androgyny,” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1977, 45, 196–205) was used to classify subjects as masculine, feminine, androgynous, or undifferentiated. Separate Gender × Sex Role Orientation chi square tests were performed on the frequency data of team and individual sport athletes. The results indicated no significant differences in the sex role orientations of male and female team sport performers, with the greatest proportion (66%) having a masculine (33%) or androgynous (33%) orientation. For individual sports there was a significant difference in the sex role orientations of males and females. The highest proportion of females were classified as feminine (37%) and the lowest proportion were classified as masculine (11%). Individual sport males were somewhat evenly distributed among the four sex role orientation categories, with the highest proportion classified as undifferentiated (36%). It was concluded that sex role orientation of elite female athletes may be associated with the male appropriateness of the sport in which they participate.

Gender, prejudice, and categorization

In a replication of a study by Taylor and Falcone (“Cognitive Bases of Stereotyping: The Relationship Between Categorization and Prejudice,” Personality and Social Psychology bulletin, 1982, 8, 426–432), subjects (n=161) listened to videotapes of three males and three females in a staged discussion of ways to increase voter turnout. Subjects subsequently attempted to identify which speaker had made each of the suggestions offered during the discussion. In confirmation of Taylor and Falcone, both sexes made significantly more within-sex than cross-sex attribution errors, suggesting the importance of gender in processing information. Subjects also rated the speakers on items reflecting their likability and their competence. Contrary to Taylor and Falcone, no promale prejudice effects were found. Relationships were also determined between the dependent variables and subjects' scores on a measure of sex role attitudes and on the M (instrumentality) and F (expressiveness) scales of the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI; S. L. Bem, “The Measurement of Psychological Androgyny,” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1974, 42, 155–162) and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ; J. T. Spence, R. Helmreich, and J. Stapp, “The Personal Attributes Questionnaire: A Measurement of Sex-Role Stereotypes and Masculinity-Femininity,” JAS Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 1974, 4, 143). No Significant BSRI or PAQ effects emerged, thus failing to replicate either the results for within-sex errors reported by Taylor and Falcone or those subsequently reported by Frable and Bem (“If You Are Gender Schematic, All Members of the Opposite Sex Look Alike,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1985, 49, 459–468).

Cross-Cultural Validation of the Bem Sex Role Inventory

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.

The effects of psychological androgyny on attributions of causality for success and failure

Sixty female subjects and sixty male subjects, either sex-typed or androgynous, based on scores on the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI), made causal attributions for their own success or failure. Subjects also predicted future performance on a similar task. Sex differences were revealed which are only partially consistent with a cognitive-based expectancy model. It is suggested that outcome and ego involvement in the task are crucial factors in whether cognitive-based or more self-serving attributions are used in accounting for performance. Androgynous subjects predicted higher future performance. However, contrary to prediction, attributional behavior of androgynous and sex-typed subjects did not differ. Results are discussed in terms of rapidly changing views, in both the conceptualization and the measurement of psychological androgyny, since Bem's original report of behavioral correlates to scores on the BSRI.

Continuing education, identity, sex role, and psychosocial development in adult women

Comparisons on psychosocial development and sex-role identification were made between 39 adult women returning to college in midlife and 40 traditional homemakers. Significantly more homemakers had foreclosed on the adult identity issues of goals and religion and scored lower on a measure of psychological androgyny. Women in continuing education showed greater evidence of identity crisis as they neared graduation. The two groups did not differ along Eriksonian developmental stages, but there were differences in the pattern of favorable and unfavorable resolutions of psychosocial crises within both groups. The results support the existence of an identity crisis as a response to life events in adulthood and demonstrate a relationship between behavioral and self-report indices of rejection or acceptance of the traditional feminine role.

Theoretical and Operational Conceptualizations of Psychological Androgyny: Implications for Measurement

Research has demonstrated that the original operationalization of psychological androgyny using the t-ratio procedure accurately represents four of its five fundamental theoretical components. A new operationalization of androgyny, the median split technique, has recently been adopted, and this procedure also adequately denotes the same four theoretical components. However, the two procedures differ in the distribution of scores produced and in the results obtained in two recent studies. The implications of these differences are discussed and future directions for the measurement of psychological androgyny are investigated.

Psychological androgyny and interpersonal behavior.

Bern's measure of psychological androgyny was derived from only two relatively desirable dimensions of interpersonal behavior that may, or may not, implicate other less desirable traits that are sex role stereotyped. From an item pool of 1,710 trait-descriptive adjectives, sets of masculinity and scales were assembled that were comparable to scales and to those developed by Bern and by Heilbrun. The pool also contained items from eight scales that form an interpersonal circumplex. One hundred eighty-seven college men and women who rated themselves on the 1,710 adjectives were classified as stereotyped, near-stereotyped, or androgynous by Bern's criteria. Bern's measure of psychological androgyny appears to reflect a highly generalizable personological construct that implicates both desirable and undesirable dimensions of interpersonal behavior. Heilbrun's scales are both empirically and conceptually similar to Bern's, and both scale sets differ from traditional masculinity-femininity measures. There is a possibility that androgynous men are more flexible in their interpersonal behavior than androgynous women. Until very recently, the psychological construct of masculinity- femininity has been characterized by a conceptual fuzziness that has permitted unrelated and even contradictory attributes of persons to be viewed as indicants of a monolithic process. Constantinople's (1973) critical review of the major psychological tests of masculinity-f emininity, developed during the last 40 years, cleared the air for new approaches to an old problem. Bern's (1974) work on the construct of psychological androgyny is one such new approach. Her formulations place a unique emphasis on certain classes of interpersonal behavior that are generally considered more

A new measure of psychological androgyny based on the Personality Research Form.

A new measure of psychological androgyny based on the Personality Research Form.

"Remarks on Bem's Measurement of Psychological Androgyny: Alternative Methods and a Supplementary Analysis": Erratum.

"Remarks on Bem's Measurement of Psychological Androgyny: Alternative Methods and a Supplementary Analysis": Erratum.

Remarks on Bem's measurement of psychological androgyny: Alternative methods and a supplementary analysis.

Remarks on Bem's measurement of psychological androgyny: Alternative methods and a supplementary analysis.