Sex-typed Females Research Articles

Changes in sexist attitudes toward women during introductory women's and men's studies courses

Sexism toward women scores of university students at the beginning of an introductory women's and men's studies (gender studies) course were compared with sexism levels of the same students at the end of the course and with sexism levels of controls. Differences in sexism levels associated with Bem's sex role categories were investigated. Sexism levels among students in every category, except undifferentiated, were significantly lower at the end of the course, while controls showed no pre/post differences. As expected, males were higher than females both at pretest and at posttest, and sexism in both sex groups decreased significantly by equivalent amounts; but androgynous males in the introductory course were lower in sexism than sex-typed males and androgynous females were lower than sex-typed females. Undifferentiated subjects decreased in sexism least during the course, and cross-typed and androgynous males decreased most. The relationship of sexism to several additional variables not included in formal hypotheses also is discussed. These variables were age, religion, ethnicity, SES, and grade earned in the gender studies course.

The effect of sex and gender-schematic processing on sport participation

This study examined the extent to which an individual's overall experience with and personal commitment to athletic activities is constrained by the sex appropriateness of the sport, the sex of the individual, and the individual's classification on the Bem Sex Role Inventory. No sex differences were found for levels of participation for either measure of participation. For both measures, neutral sports were preferred, followed by sex-appropriate and then sex-inappropriate sports. Females' experience and commitment was greater than males' to feminine activities, whereas males' was greater than females' for masculine activities. Sex-typed males reported significantly less experience with and commitment to feminine sports than androgynous and undifferentiated males. When sex-typed females were compared with androgynous and cross-sex-typed females, they reported significantly less commitment to masculine sports.

Effects of helper's sex, subjects' androgyny, and self-evaluation on males' and females' willingness to seek and receive help

The present study investigated the effects of sex of available helper on the willingness to seek and receive help reported by androgynous and sex-typed males and females who were categorized as being high and low in self-evaluation. Subjects received a questionnaire that included description of situations involving a need for help. For half the subjects the situation described a potential male helper, and for the other half it described a female helper. Subjects were asked to indicate how likely they were to seek help in each situation, and how they expected to feel if they received help. Results indicate that (a) males were more willing to seek and receive help from a female helper; (b) sex-typed males were less receptive, and sex-typed females were more receptive, to help; (c) relative to androgynous individuals, sex-typed individuals indicated greater willingness to seek and receive help from a female than from a male helper; and, finally, (d) these effects were more pronounced for subjects with low self-evaluation. The conceptual and applied implications of these findings are discussed.

College Adjustment Problems and Attitudes Toward Drinking Reported by Feminine, Androgynous, and Masculine College Women

Two studies compared attitudes toward various issues and adaptations to demands of college life that were reported by feminine, androgynous, and masculine sex-typed females. Study 1 showed that feminine sex-typed females reported lower involvement in academic competition, fewer difficulties with peer pressures, and less exclusion by fraternities and sororities from college social life than did androgynous and masculine females. Androgynous and masculine females gave similar responses, showing high involvement in academic competition, negative reactions to peer pressures, and resentment toward male friends who cancel plans. Study 2 compared attitudes of feminine, androgynous, and masculine female college students toward drinking. Discriminant analysis showed that over 99% of the subjects could be correctly classified according to sex type on the basis of two dimensions: (1) sociable drinking and (2) drinking due to peer pressure and social discomfort. Masculine and androgynous females were significantly more likely than feminine females to endorse questions related to social drinking. Masculine females showed the greatest potential for problem drinking from social pressures and for escape from social discomfort. Results supported Kelly and Worell's (1977) argument that the adaptive values of different sex-role orientations depend on the demands of the environment.

Psychological Androgyny and Assertiveness in Females

This study examined the relationship between psychological androgyny and assertiveness in females. 178 female undergraduates were administered the Bem Sex-role Inventory and a 40-item, self-report, assertiveness inventory. On the basis of their Bem scores subjects were assigned to one of four sex-role categories; sex-typed, sex-reversed, androgynous, or indeterminate. Androgynous subjects, in contrast to sex-typed subjects, reported significantly less discomfort in situations demanding assertiveness, a significantly higher probability of engaging in assertive behavior, and fewer situations they would like to be able to handle more assertively. These findings suggest that androgynous females deny or suppress behaviors traditionally seen as inappropriate for women on fewer occasions than do sex-typed females.

Sex-Typed May Be Beautiful but Androgynous is Good

The effects of a stimulus person's sex-role orientation on both opposite-sex attraction and attribution of physical attractiveness were assessed. Male and female undergraduates, classified as sex-typed or androgynous according to their scores on the Bern Sex-role Inventory, were asked to form impressions of two members of the opposite sex on the basis of some of their responses to the inventory. The protocols were actually bogus and were contrived to represent a feminine female, a masculine male, and an androgynous person (same for both sexes). Each subject was given one sex-typed and one androgynous protocol and was asked to form impressions of both. The results indicated that both androgynous and sex-typed females liked the androgynous male significantly more than the masculine one, although males did not differentiate between the two females. Moreover, significantly greater physical attractiveness was attributed to the sex-typed stimulus person than to the androgynous one.

Personality Characteristics of Androgynous and Sex-Typed Females

Personality characteristics of androgynous and sex-typed females identified by the gem Sex-Role Inventory were studied using the California Psychological Inventory. The results indicated that sex-typed females showed personality characteristics associated with traditional sex-role stereotypes while androgynous females showed both masculine nd feminine characteristics. There was an indication that androgynous and masculine females were better adjusted socially than feminine or undifferentiated females.

Machiavellianism and Women's Grade Point Averages

60 female college students from all four class years and from 14 different majors were given a personal data sheet asking for age, major, college year, and grade point average, and completion of a Bern Sex-role Inventory, and a Mach V Test. Scores of undergraduate female college students were not expected to correlate significantly with those on the Mach V Test and grade point averages, but, when the students were divided into traditionally masculine sex-typed and traditionally feminine sex-typed groups on the basis of the Bern scale, a significant positive correlation between Mach V scores and grade point averages for traditionally masculine sex-typed females and a significant negative correlation for traditionally feminine sex-typed females were expected. No significant over-all correlation between Mach V scores and grade point averages was found. However, the Pearson correlation of .61 between these two variables for the Bern inventory scored traditionally masculine sex-typed females was significantly positive and of —.64 for traditionally feminine sex-typed females was significantly negative. Suggestions for further research on Machiavellianism and particularly on different manipulations used by traditionally feminine sex-typed females were made.

Contraceptive Knowledge: Antecedents and Implications

The present study investigated the influence of contraceptive knowledge among young persons on sexual involvement, personal responsibility, and perception of options in the event of unwanted pregnancy. Knowledge was not related to early sexual experience (before age 18) or to any of the negative outcomes popularly attributed to exposure to such material. Knowledgeable females demonstrated less embarrassment or inhibition with respect to discussing their contraceptive experience, and were more willing to consider abortion as an option to unwanted pregnancy. More knowledgeable males and females believed the woman, rather than the man, should assume final responsibility for contraception. Females were more knowledgeable than males, and persons (especially females) who identified with a nonconventional sex type were more knowledgeable than their conventional counterparts. Conventionally sex-typed females were more reluctant to disclose their contraceptive experience, while the opposite was true among males. Level of knowledge was directly related to the expertise of the subject's information source, yet the best sources were seldom used, and were not used at all by males. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.