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 arid 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.     

Sex-role orientation and relationship development in same-sex dyads

The purpose of the present study was to assess the relationship between sex-role identity, behavioral interaction, and interpersonal attraction in an initial extended encounter. Eighty-two female subjects identified as either feminine, androgynous, or undifferentiated participated in the study in same-sex dyads. The design contrasted three different dyad types: (a) feminine-feminine; (b) androgynous-androgynous; and (c) undifferentiated-undifferentiated. Each dyad completed an initial 5-min unstructured interaction, a 10-min getting-acquainted exercise, and a final 5-min unstructured interaction. Results of the combined initial and final unstructured interactions indicated greater interpersonal attraction between androgynous as compared with undifferentiated and feminine dyad types. During the interactions, androgynous individuals talked, looked at, and gestured to one another longer than did nonandrogynous individuals. There were, however, no significant differences between the feminine and undifferentiated dyads in interpersonal attraction or behavioral interaction. Discussion of the results emphasized the need to examine further the relationship between sex-role identity, behavioral interaction, and attraction in interpersonal encounters.     

Fear of success: The influence of sex,sex-role identity,and components of masculinity

Phase I of this experiment was conducted to determine the nature of the relationship between fear of success and sex-role identity. Eighty female and 124 male subjects completed a measure of fear of success (the Sadd Fear of Success Scale, SFOS) and two sex-role scales (the Bem Sex Role Inventory, BSRI; and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire, PAQ). Subjects were subsequently classified by their responses to the BSRI and PAQ as either androgynous, masculine, feminine, or undifferentiated. The results indicated that androgynous and masculine individuals reported less fear of success than feminine or undifferentiated individuals, regardless of their sex. Subsequent analyses revealed that fear of success was more related to the absence of masculine traits than to the presence of feminine traits. Phase II of this investigation was conducted to determine whether a specific component of masculinity was related to the fear of success. The masculinity scales were factor analyzed and factor scores were regressed on the fear-of-success scores. Factor scores reflecting high self-confidence, decisiveness, analyticalness, and independence were related to low levels of fear of success; factor scores reflecting assertiveness, competitiveness, and opinionatedness were not related to the fear of success.     

Sex,Sex Roles,and Emotional Expressiveness

Differences in emotional expressiveness between males and females have generally been attributed to sex-role socialization, but most studies have not included measures of sex-role orientation. We hypothesized that sex role would be a more salient factor than sex and that androgynous and feminine persons would be more expressive than masculine and undifferentiated individuals. Data were gathered from 230 college students using Bem's (1975) Sex-Role Inventory and Balswick's (1975) Expression of Emotion Scale. Both hypotheses were supported.     

Sex-role orientation,behavioral adaptability and personal adjustment

Bem's Sex-Role Inventory was used to classify 111 college men and women into masculine, feminine, androgynous, and undifferentiated sex-role categories. Subjects were tested for emotional expressivity (feminine task), assertiveness (masculine task), and personal integration. Sex typed and cross-sex typed subjects performed well only on those tasks which were congruent with their measured sex role. Androgynous subjects exhibited the greatest behavioral adaptability, performing well on both masculine and feminine tasks; undifferentiated subjects performed poorly on both tasks, but particularly so on sex-reversed tasks. Thus, behavioral flexibility was shown to derive from strong identifications with both masculine and feminine roles (androgyny) rather than from a simple lack of identification with either role. In addition, contrary to previous findings that masculine-typed women are better adjusted than feminine-typed women, androgynous and sex typed subjects both scored high in personal integration, with cross-sex typed subjects of both sexes scoring as low as undifferentiated subjects.     

The effects of sex and sex-role identity on the attribution of maladjustment

This study examined the effects of a stimulus person's gender and sex-role identity and an observer's gender and sex-role identity on the observer's judgments of the stimulus person's personality and level of adjustment. After having been classified as androgynous or nonandrogynous, 141 males and females viewed videotapes of a case conference on a bogus client. In the videotapes the client's gender and sex-role identity were factorially manipulated. As predicted, male clients and clients with a masculine sex-role identity were seen as possessing less favorable personality characteristics and as being less mentally healthy than were female clients and clients with a feminine history. Sex-role incongruence (e.g., a masculine female) influenced the subjects' judgments only of a female client. A sex-role congruent female was seen as more attractive and better adjusted than a sex-role incongruent female. The subjects' gender and sex-role identity did not influence their judgments of the clients in any consistent or interpretable fashion. Finally, it was found that the subjects were most influenced by sex-role congruence/incongruence of opposite sex stimulus persons. The discussion of these results centered on: (a) the relative influence of gender and sex-role identity on people's perceptions of a stimulus person and (b) the need for further exploration of how subject characteristics might influence these perceptions.This study is based on a Masters thesis submitted to the University of South Florida in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree. Portions of the study were presented at the 1978 meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association. All correspondence should be sent to the second author c/o Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620.     

The relationship between sex-role identity and beliefs in personal control

Three hundred and ten college undergraduate students completed the Bem Sex-Role Inventory and Rotter's Internal-External Scale measuring locus of control. Males were significantly more internal than females. Both males and females who had high same-sex scale scores were significantly more internal than those with low same-sex scale scores. That is, males who were masculine or androgynous and females who were feminine or androgynous reported greater internal locus of control beliefs than did those males who were feminine or undifferentiated and those females who were masculine or undifferentiated. It was suggested that these findings result from different styles of power typically associated with sex-role stereotypes.     

Sex-role orientation of college students and their same-sex parents

The study examined similarities and differences between sex-role orientations of college students and their same-sex parents. College undergraduates filled out the Bem Sex-role Inventory twice: once to describe themselves and the second time to describe their same-sex parents. The inventory was also used to obtain parental self-reports. Compared to their perceptions of their same-sex parents, male students described themselves as more feminine and female students described themselves as more masculine. Also, male students described their fathers as less feminine and female students described their mothers as both less masculine and less feminine than the parents described themselves. Students' femininity scores correlated significantly with the parental femininity scores both actual and perceived, however, no consistent relationship was found for the masculinity scores. Androgynous students and students with the reversed sex-role orientation perceived their parents as androgynous and reversed, respectively.     

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.     

Gender role identity and dating behavior: What is the relationship?

The influence of gender role identity on dating behaviors of college students was examined using the Bem Sex Role Inventory and a behavioral questionnaire constructed by the author. One hundred and ninety-seven students were classified as androgynous, undifferientated, feminine, or masculine based on their Bem Sex Role Inventory scores. A behavioral questionnaire was used to generate two self-report behavioral indexes: the masculine dating behavior and feminine dating behavior indexes. Results indicated that high-masculine individuals (androgynous and masculine individuals) scored higher on the masculine dating behavior index and that high-feminine individuals (androgynous and feminine individuals) scored higher on the feminine interactional index. The results of this study support the hypothesis that gender role identity influences self-reported dating behavior of college students.     

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.     

Relationships Between Sex, Sex Role, and Social Influence

A study (N = 60) was conducted to investigate the relationship between sex, the Bern Sex-Role Inventory, and measures of social influence. These influence measures involved self-reports of influence strategies, peer evaluations after group discussions, the Marlowe-Crowne Social-Desirability Scale, and a conformity paradigm. It was found that regardless of the subject's sex, masculine and androgynous persons received more positive peer evaluations than feminine persons. Feminine people regardless of sex were more likely than masculine or androgynous people (p <0.05) to report using tears, emotional alteration, and subtlety in efforts to influence others. It was also found that sex-typed and androgynous persons had higher need for approval scores than cross-sex-typed individuals.     

The Factor Structure of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory

Seventy-seven female and 86 male psychologist practitioners filled out the Bem Sex Rote Inventory to describe either a healthy adult male, healthy adult female, or healthy adult, sex unspecified. Analyzing the data according to Bem's classification of masculinity, femininity, and androgyny produced a significant Scale X Condition interaction with male and female practitioners ascribing significantly more masculine than feminine traits to healthy adult men, yet displaying no comparable differences when rating healthy adult women. Analyzing the data according to Spence's classification of masculine, feminine, androgynous, and undifferentiated produced a Group X Condition interaction with practitioners ascribing significantly more masculine traits to healthy adult men and significantly more feminine traits to healthy adult women. Reanalyses omitting "masculine" and "feminine" from Bem's fist of sex-typed traits produced nonsignificant results. The relationship of this to recent criticisms of the construct validity of the BSRI and to the validity of earlier results of therapist sex-role bias was discussed.     

Assessment of sex-role stereotyping among male and female psychologist practitioners

Seventy-seven female and 86 male psychologist practitioners filled out the Bem Sex Rote Inventory to describe either a healthy adult male, healthy adult female, or healthy adult, sex unspecified. Analyzing the data according to Bem's classification of masculinity, femininity, and androgyny produced a significant Scale X Condition interaction with male and female practitioners ascribing significantly more masculine than feminine traits to healthy adult men, yet displaying no comparable differences when rating healthy adult women. Analyzing the data according to Spence's classification of masculine, feminine, androgynous, and undifferentiated produced a Group X Condition interaction with practitioners ascribing significantly more masculine traits to healthy adult men and significantly more feminine traits to healthy adult women. Reanalyses omitting "masculine" and "feminine" from Bem's fist of sex-typed traits produced nonsignificant results. The relationship of this to recent criticisms of the construct validity of the BSRI and to the validity of earlier results of therapist sex-role bias was discussed.     

Masculine Instrumentality and Feminine Expressiveness: Their Relationships with Sex Role Attitudes and Behaviors

Data from the Bern Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ) Masculinity and Femininity scales have led to the hypothesis that androgynous individuals are more "behaviorally flexible" than others, manifesting both masculine and feminine role behaviors. Sex-role androgyny is also said to have other beneficial consequences such as high self esteem. The content of these instruments, however, is largely confined to socially desirable instrumental (masculine) and expressive (feminine) personality traits. A review of the literature indicates that these abstract trait dimensions have only minimal relationships with sex-role attitudes and sex-role behaviors not tapping instrumentality and expressiveness, and provide little support for the general behavioral flexibility hypothesis. Although PAQ and BSRI findings cannot be generalized to sex-role behaviors in general, the literature suggests that instrumentality and expressiveness per se have important implications. Appreciation of their contributions may be advanced more rapidly if these trait dimensions are disentangled from global concepts of sex-roles or masculinity, femininity, and androgyny.     

The Influences of Sex and Gender-Role Identity on Moral Cognition and Prosocial Personality Traits

The relations of sex and gender-role identity to moral thought and prosocial personality traits were examined. Two hundred and nine men and women rated the importance of real-life, care-related, justice-related, and mixed (both care- and justice-related) moral dilemmas. Responses on the real-life and mixed dilemmas also were scored for care and justice orientations. Women and feminine persons viewed moral conflicts as more important than did men and masculine people. On the mixed dilemmas, women scored higher than men on care reasoning, whereas men scored higher than women on justice reasoning. Regardless of sex or gender role, relational real-life dilemmas evoked higher importance and care reasoning scores than did nonrelational ones. Women and persons high in femininity showed more empathic concern for other people. Masculine persons scored lower on personal distress, whereas androgynous persons reported more helpful behaviors than did all others.     

The “good manager”: Sex-typed,androgynous, or likable?

Recent studies have indicated that people describe a “good manager” in masculine terms. It was hypothesized that this could simply reflect cultural stereotypes, rather than people's perceptions of what combination of traits is desirable in a leader. In Experiments 1 and 2, subjects were presented managerial profiles ascribing all masculine, all feminine, or a combination of masculine and feminine traits (i.e., “androgynous” profiles) to hypothetical managers. Feminine-trait combinations were rated as significantly less desirable than either masculine or androgynous combinations, which were rated as equally desirable. Thus, while femininity per se was not seen as desirable in a leader, it was not viewed as a liability when combined with masculinity, a corroboration of much behavioral research on androgyny. Experiment 3 varied trait likableness and sex-role orientation. Experiments 1 and 2 were replicated for unlikable traits. Surprisingly, the opposite pattern was obtained for likable traits: the feminine combinations were rated as the most desirable, and the masculine combinations were rated as the least desirable. The results are discussed in the context of early research on impression formation and recent work on social cognition.     

Gender roles,biological sex,and predisposition to conflict management

The Bem Sex-Role Inventory and the Communication-Conflict Instrument were administered to 182 husbands and wives. Results suggest that gender-role classification is a more significant discriminator of communication behavior than is biological sex. Androgynous spouses, more than feminine though not significantly more so than masculine spouses, reported themselves to be the most disposed to handle conflict constructively. On the subscales of the conflict instrument, androgynous persons had significantly more positive feelings scores than either masculine or feminine persons, plus higher task energy and desire-for-control scores than feminine persons. Similarly, masculine persons reported a significantly greater predisposition to manage conflict constructively than did feminine persons, having higher task energy and desire-for-control scores. Undifferentiated persons reported the lowest scores for conflict management.     

The relationship of sex-role identity,life style,and mental health in suburban american homemakers: 1. Sex role,employment and adjustment

Prior research has suggested that a traditional feminine role may be a mental health liability for women. The present study investigates whether adjustment difficulties among homemakers may be a function of discrepancies between life roles and sex-role orientation. Subjects were 97 suburban mothers divided into full (N=59) and part-time (N=38) homemaker groups. Each subject was given the Bem Sex Role Inventory and SCL-90-R, which yields nine symptom scores and an overall adjustment index. A 4 (sex-roles) by 2 (homemaker status) ANOVA for overall adjustment was carried out. Significant differences were found only for sex roles, androgynous subjects showing significantly less symptomatology than undifferentiated subjects. In a stepwise multiple discriminant analysis, to predict sex roles from the nine symptom scores, masculine and androgynous groups reported symptoms of depression, anxiety, and interpersonal sensitivity much less frequently than feminine and undifferentiated subjects. High masculinity among this group of women (masculine or androgynous sex-role orientation) thus appears as a key factor related to adjustment, whereas life role-sex role consistency does not.