Psychological androgyny and aspects of self-image in women and men

Although psychological androgyny has been theoretically related to greater interpersonal and situational adaptability, the relationship between the two has not been articulated. The present study hypothesized that the superior adaptability of psychologically androgynous persons would be evidenced in a coping style characterized by high self-monitoring, internal locus of control, and positive expectations of achievement and affiliation success. To assess this relationship, the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) and seven self-report measures were completed by 236 college men and women. Analyses of variance, with participants categorized according to sex-role style, and multiple regression analyses of the BSRI femininity and masculinity scale scores for females and males on each of the self-report measures were conducted to test androgyny theory and alternative predictions. The analyses indicated that the predominance of masculine traits accounted more often than a combination of masculine and feminine traits for the more adaptive scores for both women and men. Only for expectations of affiliation success among women was there clear support for psychological androgyny theory.     

Self-rated adjustment and sex-typing on the Bem Sex-Role Inventory: Is masculinity the primary predictor of adjustment?

Questions concerning the relationship between self-rated adjustment and the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) were examined in two studies. In Study I, whether sex-typing was defined by Bem's original t-test criterion or the newer median-split criterion, superior adjustment was associated with androgynous vs. traditional typing only among women, not men. Also in conflict with the androgyny position, adjustment differences among sex-types were accounted for by differences in masculinity, not in femininity or androgyny per se. The greater contribution of masculinity vs. femininity to self-rated adjustment may be exaggerated because BSRI femininity includes items which do not load on a unidimensional femininity factor. In Study II, inspection of these unrelated items suggested that they reduce the desirability of BSRI femininity, thereby reducing its relationship to adjustment. Comparisons between standard BSRI scoring and an alternative based on unidimensional subscales revealed that the alternative femininity subscale was judged to be more desirable, and it reduced the degree of difference between masculinity and femininity in their relationships to adjustment. Superior adjustment, however, was again associated with androgynous vs. traditional sex-typing only among women, and adjustment differences among sex-types were again accounted for by differences in masculinity.The authors acknowledge the assistance of the following persons who helped in the administration, scoring, or preparation of questionnaire materials: Jill Jamison, Eric Isberg, Kay Peter, Steve Zalinger, Walter Davis, James Ball, Mark Jensen, and Heidi Sanft. Correspondence should addressed to Dr. Louise Silvern, Psychology Department, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309.     

Influence of sport participation upon sex role orientation of caucasian males and their attitudes toward women

Differences in psychological androgyny and attitudes toward women were examined in male Caucasian intercollegiate contact and noncontact sport athletes and male Caucasian college nonathletes. Contact athletes in the sports of football and wrestling, noncontact athletes in the sports of baseball and track and field, and nonathletes completed the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (ATWS) and the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) to assess egalitarian attitudes toward women and sex role orientation. Results of analyses of variance (ANOVAs) on the ATWS indicate that athletes as a group possessed more conservative, traditional attitudes toward women than did nonathletes, but that no differences existed between contact sport athletes and noncontact sport athletes. Results of ANOVAs and chi-square analyses on the BSRI indicated no differences between groups regarding sex role orientation based upon self-perceptions of masculinity and femininity.     

The relationship between instrumental and expressive traits,health behaviors,and perceived physical health

Relations between instrumental and expressive traits, health behaviors, and self-reported physical health were examined among young adults. Individuals (169 men, 167 women) completed two measures of instrumental and expressive traits, the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ). Ethnic background of the sample included 72% European Americans, 13% Latin Americans, 6% Asian Americans, 5% African Americans, less than 1% Native American, and 4% did not specify a particular category. Expressive traits from the BSRI, and expressive and instrumental traits from the PAQ were associated with health behaviors, after controlling for neuroticism. Neuroticism explained 43% of the variance in perceived physical health. Separation of individuals into four groups on the basis of instrumental and expressive traits showed that androgynous individuals reported significantly better health practices than other individuals providing support for the androgyny model.     

Dimensionality of the bem sex role inventory: A multidimensional analysis

Bem has criticized psychological scales which categorize individuals as masculine or feminine and has developed the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) to measure androgyny as well as femininity and masculinity. Bem's work on androgyny has stimulated not only a growing research tradition on androgyny but also methodological critiques of the BSRI instrument and scoring procedure. The purpose of this research is to replicate in part a study done by Pedhazur and Tetenbaum which raises serious questions about the unidimensionality of the feminine and masculine subscales in the BSRI. The alternative multidimensional techniques of factor analysis (the method used by Pedhazur and Tetenbaum) and smallest space analysis are applied to the BSRI data set. Both techniques indicate that the feminine and masculine subsets are not unidimensional, but they yield quite different results concerning the actual nature of the dimensions in the BSRI. The results of the factor analysis, but not the smallest space analysis, are consistent with the findings of Pedhazur and Tetenbaum, thus yielding mixed evidence about the validity of their conclusions based solely on factor-analyzed data.The author wishes to acknowledge the constructive comments by Professors Milton Bloombaum, John Gartrell, Louis Guttman, and Martha Mednick during various stages of this research, and the assistance of Dr. Jerry Brennan with the data analysis. Support for this project was provided by the Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii.     

Influence of sex-role identity on two indices of social anxiety

The present study was conducted to determine the relationship between sex-role identity and two measures of self-reported social anxiety. The Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI), Social Avoidance and Distress Scale (SAD), and Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (FNE) were administered to 23 male and 26 female undergraduate students. Generally, sex role was associated with social anxiety for women, but not for men. Androgynous women reported the least anxiety, sex-role stereotyped women reported a moderate amount, and undifferentiated women reported the most anxiety of all groups. Results were interpreted in light of conflicting hypotheses of androgyny rather than masculinity being associated with greater adjustment and the value of a situational analysis of behaviors associated with sex-role orientation.     

The Depressive Experiences Questionnaire: revision and validation

The present study presents a new, unit-weight scoring system for the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ). One hundred thirty-one college students completed the DEQ, the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI), and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The revised DEQ scales were shown to have substantial levels of internal consistency. The three subscales of the revised DEQ were significantly correlated with the BSRI masculinity and femininity scales but not with gender. Significant correlations were also obtained between DEQ anaclitic, DEQ introjective scales and the BDI.     

A comparison of two sex-role androgyny measures in a study of sex-role identity for incarcerated delinquent and nondelinquent females

A sample of 100 incarcerated delinquent females and 100 nondelinquent female matched for age and socioeconomic status were compared on three aspects of sex-role identity. The Bem Sex-Role Inventory and the PRF ANDRO scale were used to assess sex-role androgyny; the Traditional Family Ideology scale was used to assess sex-role attitudes; and several questions concerning heterosexual relationships were asked. Correspondence between the two androgyny measures was moderate at the interval level of measurement and poor at the nominal level. Repeat offenders were significantly higher than first-time offenders and nondelinquents on the BSRI masculine scale; a significantly higher percentage of repeat offenders were classified as androgynous by the BSRI. No differences were observed using the PRF ANDRO scales. Heterosexual relationships were more important in the lives of delinquent females on both friendship and helping dimensions.     

The Mosaic Test as a Diagnostic Instrument and as a Technique for Illustrating Intellectual Disorganization

The present study presents a new, unit-weight scoring system for the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ). One hundred thirty-one college students completed the DEQ, the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI), and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The revised DEQ scales were shown to have substantial levels of internal consistency. The three subscales, of the revised DEQ were significantly correlated with the BSRI masculinity and femininity scales but not with gender. Significant correlations were also obtained between DEQ anaclitic. DEQ introjective scales and the BDI.     

Comments on median split procedures for scoring androgyny measures

With Bem's shift from advocacy of t-difference to median split procedures for scoring the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI), all the major androgyny measures are now scored according to median splits. These comments are directed to ward differences in interpretation of the scale as a result of varying scoring methods, and the psychometric problems introduced by median split procedures.     

Sex role development as a function of college experiences

The purpose was to evaluate the effect of college experiences on androgyny. One hundred and thirty-nine freshman and 57 senior women completed the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) as well as measures to assess precollege variables, including a biographical questionnaire, a life experience survey, a measure of parental identification, and parental sex role inventories. In addition, seniors completed measures that assessed college experiences. Almost all of the scales on the two precollege questionnaires that measured parental variables were found related to student's sex role. Consequently, all remaining relationships with sex role were examined with and without controlling for these parental scales. None of the variables that measured college experiences were found to be significantly related to sex role. The results did not support the hypothesis that seniors would assume a more masculine sex role than freshmen. However, the seniors did obtain significantly lower scores than freshmen on the BSRI Femininity scale.     

Acquiescence and the Bem Sex-Role Inventory

The Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) and the Couch and Keniston Agreement Response Scale (ARS) were administered to 70 male and 72 female undergraduate students. Using the ARS scores as the dependent variable in a 2 (gender) X3 (sex-role identification) unweightedmeans factorial analysis of variance, the results showed that the two main effects and the interaction. effect were not statistically significant (F< I in each instance) indicating the lack of relationship between the BSRI and acquiescent responding.     

Androgyny and creativity: a study of the relationship between a balanced sex-role and creative functioning

The relationship between creativity and androgyny was studied in 163 women and men with the Creative Functioning Test (CFT) and the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI). A 2 (femininity: high/low) x 2 (masculinity: high/low) x 2 (sex) ANOVA was conducted on subjects' CFT scores. A significant interaction effect between femininity and masculinity was found showing that subjects high on both femininity and masculinity (androgynous) and low on both scales (undifferentiated) reached higher CFT scores than female-typed and male-typed subjects. Further, a significant three-way interaction including sex of subject indicated that the former two-way interaction was accounted for by men only.     

Emergent leadership and female sex role identity.

The effects of female sex role identity on self- and rater evaluations of emergent leadership behavior were compared in two studies. We used the same consensus-seeking procedure in both studies to collect the data; only the biological sex composition of the groups in the second study was changed. Study 1 examined 15 mixed-sex groups of 39 female and 21 male students; Study 2 contained 96 female students in 22 same-sex groups. Sex role orientation was measured with the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI: Bem, 1974). Androgynous and feminine-oriented self-ratings of leadership were significantly higher than peer ratings and were also significantly higher than the undifferentiated self-ratings. The self-ratings of masculine-oriented women agreed most closely with peer ratings. Contrary to research and theory, peer evaluation of leadership behavior by sex role orientation did not differ.     

会谈中的当事人阻抗及工作同盟的影响因素:一项过程研究

从心理咨询过程研究视角,以38个会谈为对象,考察咨询师指导和当事人特质逆反对当事人阻抗的影响,并检验三者对工作同盟的影响。结果:指导正向预测阻抗,特质逆反则不能,二者的交互作用也不显著;阻抗负向预测工作同盟,指导则不能,二者的交互作用和中介作用都不显著,但阻抗的中介效应相对更大。结论:咨询师指导增加当事人阻抗;当事人阻抗破坏工作同盟,并在咨询师指导对工作同盟的影响过程中可能起中介作用。     

SEX ROLE ORIENTATION AND TYPE A BEHAVIOR PATTERN

Male and female college students completed the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) and the Jenkins Activity Survey, a part of which is the Type A Scale. Correlational results showed that as Type A scores increased, BSRI scores decreased (more masculine sex role orientation). Analysis of variance showed that males and females with masculine sex role orientations (SROs) had significantly higher Type A scores than those with androgynous SROs, who in turn had significantly higher Type A scores than those with feminine SROs.     

Construct Validation of the Bem Sex Role Inventory in Taiwan

It has been over 30 years since the creation of the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI; Bem in Journal of Counseling and Clinical Psychology, 42, 155-162, 1974). Although the BSRI is the most frequently tested instrument for measuring gender orientation, no researchers to date have examined its psychometric properties in Taiwan. Using the short version of the instrument, I asked a total of 381 men and 450 women college students, nurses, police officers, or managers in Taiwan to evaluate themselves on the BSRI. Among the findings are (1) satisfactory internal consistency of the BSRI, (2) more complex structure of masculinity and femininity than originally reported, and (3) doubtful ability of the BSRI to differentiate gender role orientation. These results suggest use of the BSRI in Taiwan with extreme caution before further validation of its applicability is conducted.     

Is sexual attraction independent of the instrumental and expressive traits?

Sexual attraction is an essential part of sex, just as the instrumental and expressive traits are the mainstay of gender. Various hypotheses concerning the dimensionality and independence versus dependence/overlapping of these core entities were tested. A group of 423 university students completed the Sexual Attraction Questionnaire (SAQ; Fernández, Quiroga, and Rodríguez, 2006) and the 12-item Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI; Bem, 1974). Internal consistency and factor analyses (PAF) were conducted. The results support the dimensionality established for the SAQ and reveal some psychometric and conceptual weaknesses of the 12-item BSRI. The results also support the independence of the two cores: sexual attraction and the instrumental and expressive traits. The logical implications for the different viewpoints of the relations between sex and gender are discussed.     

Androgyny and Derived Identity in Married Women with Varying Degrees of Non-Traditional Role Involvement

Three groups of women—(1) wives with no outside employment, (2) wives employed in non-professional occupations, and (3) wives employed in professional occupations—were administered the Derived Identity Questionnaire (DIQ) and the Bern Sex Role Inventory (BSRI). The two working groups revealed less "derived identity" than did the non-employed group, although the difference was only marginally significant. On the BSRI it was found that while the obtained femininity scores were essentially equal and high for the three groups, masculinity increased as a direct function of degree of departure from the housewife role. This finding led to the conclusion that working wives (especially professionals) are more "androgynous" than non-working wives. Finally, the signed difference between the masculinity and femininity scores and the DIQ scores were correlated positively, indicative of a negative relationship between derived identity and androgyny.     

Differences between Chinese and American Reactions to the Bernreuter Personality Inventory

Abstract

The present study was conducted to refine some findings of Wiggins and Holzmuller (1978, 1981), who reported on interpersonal flexibility and the conceptual similarity between the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) and the Leary interpersonal circumplex variables. The SYMLOG Behavior Rating Form and the BSRI scales were both administered to two samples of advanced students of psychology. With few exceptions, the results obtained do not confirm any of the hypotheses presented by Wiggins and Holzmuller. One may speculate that their findings may be due mainly to the fact that both sets of self-report measures are composed of highly abstract trait names far removed from observable behavioral acts.