Disordered eating and sex role characteristics in young women: Implications for sociocultural theories of disturbed eating

The sociocultural model of disordered eating proposed by Boskind-White and White (1986) predicts that women with disordered eating will be high in feminine characteristics, while that of Steiner-Adair (1986) predicts they will ascribe to high levels of masculine traits in their ideal woman and perceive a greater discrepancy between their actual and ideal masculine characteristics. To test these predictions 149 women completed questionnaire assessing sex role characteristics and eating attitudes. Positive correlations were found between measures of disordered eating and the extent to which women believed they possessed negative feminine characteristics. There was a greater discrepancy between self and ideal masculine positive scores in subjects with greater eating disturbances. Aspects of sociocultural models of disordered eating receive support from the data.     

Heterogeneity in Transgender: A Cluster Analysis of a Thai Sample

ABSTRACT

An analysis was performed of data from an Adjective Checklist (ACL) study of identity and gender-trait stereotype in Thai MtF transgenders (Winter and Udomsak, 2002a, 2002b). Contrary to previous analyses, the current analysis employed the participants (rather than the ACL traits) as the unit of analysis. For each participant a calculation was made of the extent to which traits endorsed for actual self were also those endorsed as stereotypically male (masculine) or stereotypically female (feminine) traits. In this way gender-in-self scores (indices of masculinity, femininity, and non-differentiation) in actual self-concept (MASC, FASC, and NASC respectively) were calculated. A similar matching procedure involving ideal self led to the calculation of indices for masculinity, femininity, and non-differentiation in ideal self-concept (MISC, FISC, and NISC respectively). A cluster analysis was then performed, using these six gender-in-self scores in order to identify any groups within our sample.

Participants clustered into three substantial groups, together accounting for 98% of the data. The largest (69.9% of the sample) endorsed stereotypically male and female as well as undifferentiated traits. It could therefore be described as an androgynous group. The next, accounting for 21.4% of the sample, endorsed overwhelmingly undifferentiated traits. It was accordingly labelled the undifferentiated group. The last, accounting for 6.6% of the sample, endorsed overwhelmingly female-stereotyped traits and. in view of the fact that they had constructed for themselves such a highly stereotypically female self-concept, was labelled the feminine group. All six gender-in-self scores played a part in distinguishing the groups from each other.

For all three groups discrepancies between actual and ideal self were found, suggesting personal growth goals that led away from female stereotype.

Traits endorsed for actual self were further examined for any sign of group differences in terms of scores for 14 underlying features, as well as loadings on four higher-order factors, as employed in the Winter and Udomsak (2002b) analysis. Traits endorsed for ideal self and for gender-trait stereotyping were examined in the same way and for the same purpose.

For actual self no significant group differences were found. In contrast, several differences were found for ideal self. Trails endorsed by the undifferentiated group stood out from the others by being higher on adult ego state, conscientiousness, and emotional stability, and lower on adapted child ego state. All this was reflected in stronger loadings on resourcefulness/dependability.

Numerous group differences were identified for gender-trait stereotyping. The feminine group (compared to the other two groups) considered stereotypically female traits to be (a) higher on strength, favourability, adult and free child ego states, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, openness, and psychological importance, and (b) lower on adapted child ego state. All this was reflected in a stereotypical view of the female as both more caring/harmonious (a stereotypically “female” factor), as well as more resourceful/dependable (usually a stereo-typically “male” factor) than how she was viewed by the other groups. The undifferentiated group's view of the female was at the other extreme, providing a mirror image effect.

In conclusion, three groups of MtF transgenders were identified, differing from each other in terms of the degree of gender stereotypy evident in their actual and ideal self-concepts. The three groups also differed in terms of the underlying elements of the traits that they had endorsed for ideal self, as well as for gender-trait stereotypes.     

How Masculine Ought I Be? Men's Masculinity and Aggression

Male undergraduates completed the Bem Sex RoleInventory (BSRI) as they are (actual), as others thoughtthey should be (ought), as they thought they should beideally (ideal), and then rated the importance of each item. Discrepancy scores were derivedby subtracting actual from either ought (oughtdiscrepancy) or from ideal (ideal discrepancy) andweighting scores by the importance of each item. BSRImasculine items provided the basis for masculinitydiscrepancies, and filler items, for generaldiscrepancies. With only two or three exceptions,participants were Caucasian. Each man competed againsta bogus competitor on a computer version of the Taylorreaction-time aggression paradigm that yielded a measureof both overt (intensity of the noise blast putativelydelivered to the opponent) and covert (noise blastduration) aggression. Men with high masculine"ought" discrepancies engaged in morecovert-and not more overt — aggression than didlows, an effect not moderated by provocation level.Those with high masculinity scores were more overtly aggressive than werelow masculinity men.     

Social skills and sex‐role functioning in borderline personality disorder: relationship to self‐mutilating behavior

This study compared the social skills functioning and sex role affiliation of female inpatients diagnosed with borderline personality disorder who engaged in self‐mutilating behavior (n?=?30) with female patients with borderline personality disorder who did not engage in such behavior (n?=?18). Patients with borderline personality disorder who engaged in self‐mutilating behavior were found to have relatively poorer skills in communicating non‐verbal emotional information to others and in receiving and interpreting such information from others. In terms of sex role orientation, patients who engaged in self‐mutilating behavior were significantly more likely than non‐mutilators to be typed as undifferentiated using the Bem Sex Role Inventory. These participants were less likely to identify with either masculine or feminine sex roles. Patients who did not self‐mutilate were found to be significantly more likely than those who did self‐mutilate to identify with the masculine sex role.     

Crossover,Degendering, or…? A Multidimensional Approach to Life-Span Gender Development

Inspired by Sandra Bem and subsequent theorists, we examine gender as a multidimensional construct that differs across adulthood to test claims made by two different theories of life-span gender development—that men and women cross over and become more like the other gender with age, and that aging involves degendering or viewing gender as a less central aspect of the self. Self-report survey data from a U.S. sample of men and women recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (25–89 years, M age?=?47.38, SD?=?14.05) were used to investigate the extent to which stereotypically masculine traits; stereotypically feminine traits; androgyny; gender identification (i.e., identifying with one’s gender group and viewing this as a positive part of the self); and gender typicality (i.e., viewing oneself as a typical member of one’s gender group) differ between younger (i.e., under age 40), middle-aged (i.e., ages 40–59), and older men and women (i.e., age 60 and older) and by marital status. Results indicate that gender differences in stereotypically masculine and feminine personality traits exist, and that marital status moderates age and gender differences in traits. Among older men, those who are married are more likely to endorse stereotypically masculine traits, but also have higher androgyny scores than unmarried men. With age, both men and women perceive themselves as more typical examples of their gender group. Results are discussed as providing limited support for crossover theory, but not degendering.     

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.     

Relationship between sex-role attitudes and personality traits and the revised sex-role behavior scale

Two hundred college men and women completed self-report measures of sex-role traits (Personal Attributes Questionnaire), attitudes (Attitudes Toward Women Scale), and behavior (Sex-Role Behavior Scale). Intercorrelations among the three measures were examined to test two competing theoretical perspectives which dominate sex-role research today. The social learning point-of-view of Janet Spence and her colleagues asserts a general independence of sex-role personality traits, attitudes, and behaviors. The cognitive-developmental theory of Sandra Bem asserts that sex-role phenomena are fairly closely interrelated, at least for sex-typed individuals whose gender schemas cause them to adhere closely to traditional sex-role norms in their self-concepts and behavior. Findings of moderate relationships between masculine, feminine, and sex-specific personality traits, and the corresponding interest/behavior scales of the Sex-Role Behavior Scale, and between sex-role attitudes and behaviors lend partial support to both perspectives.     

Sex-role identity and self-esteem in female graduate nursing students

This study investigated masculinity and femininity characteristics and levels of self-esteem of 96 female graduate nursing students between the ages of 20 and 50. The instruments used were incorporated into a questionnaire which was mailed to each student. Self-esteem was measured by a version of Coopersmith's Self-Esteem Inventory which Good and Good modified to adapt to adult standards. To measure femininity and masculinity, a shortened version of the Bem Sex Role Inventory was used: Subjects rated themselves along a 7-point Likert scale for 10 masculine and 10 feminine traits. The categorical method of scoring by Spence, Helmreich, and Stapp was employed. The students were fairly evenly distributed across the following four categories: low masculine-low feminine; low masculine-high feminine; high masculine-low feminine; and high masculinehigh feminine. The students in the high masculine-low feminine and the high masculine-high feminine categories were found to have a statistically higher mean self-esteem than the students in the low masculine-low feminine and low masculne-high feminine categories. Implications were mentioned regarding the development of a high degree of both masculine and feminine characteristics in nurses.     

Perceptions of women's power as a function of position within an organization

In the present study the authors investigated how people perceive women as a function of position within an organization. Introductory psychology students (N = 456) were given 1 of 6 vignettes depicting people in various occupations, along with an adjective checklist adapted from the Bem Sex Role Inventory (S. L. Bem, 1974). The students indicated on a Likert-type scale the adjectives they believed described the character in the paragraph they received. They were also given a power style scale by T. R. Hinkin and C. A. Schriesheim (1989) and were asked to rate the vignette characters' ability to use each different style (e.g., reward, expertise, referent, legitimate, coercive). The students rated women in high positions as more masculine than men and women in low positions and as masculine as men in high positions. There was little difference in power styles as a function of either the sex or the position level of the vignette character.     

Gender Traits and Cognitive Appraisal in Young Adults: The Mediating Role of Locus of Control

The present study examined the relationships between masculine and feminine traits, measured using the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI), and the way young adults appraise events (i.e., as threats or as challenges). We hypothesized that the locus of control (LOC)—i.e., individuals’ perceived control over the events that affect them—mediated these relationships. We tested these assumptions on two student samples from the French-speaking part of Switzerland (N?=?123 and N?=?504). Regression analyses demonstrated that, as expected, agentic masculine traits were positively related to challenge appraisals, and negatively to threat appraisals. LOC mediated these relationships, but most strongly among female participants. A different pattern was found for femininity. Feminine traits were positively related to increased challenge appraisals, but only in female participants of Sample 2. They were also related, in some cases, to increased threat appraisals. Furthermore, in line with previous research, LOC did not mediate the relationship between feminine traits and cognitive appraisal. Overall, the present results confirm that masculine and feminine stereotypical traits differ in their consequences for the way young adults appraise events in their everyday life.     

Participation in competitive amateur sports as a function of psychological androgyny

Previous research has indicated that women who participate in competitive sports tend to score low on traditional measures of femininity, and such women have been characterized as masculine (Harris, 1975). These studies used the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI; Bem, 1974) to measure the degree of sex-typing in 25 male and 23 female competitors in a national racquetball tournament and 24 male and 27 female competitors in local badminton, squash, and handball tournaments. Results for the first study indicated that a larger percentage of androgynous women as compared to traditionally feminine or masculine women entered the racquetball tournament, whereas the largest percentage of male entrants were in the masculine role category. Results for the second study indicated that among contestants who cited a competitive reason for entering the tournament, a larger percentage of both men and women were sex-typed as androgynous or masculine rather than feminine. These results were subsequently reanalyzed according to an alternate procedure suggested by Bem (1977) in order to compare the behavior of subjects who score high on both masculinity and femininity and those who scored low on both. While the percentages of masculine, feminine, and androgynous subjects were changed by the new categorization procedure, there were no differences found between high—high and low—low scorers. Implications of these results for the traditional characterization of women participants in competitive sports and for the usefulness of the BSRI in predicting nonlaboratory behavior are discussed.Portions of this article are based on an honors thesis submitted by the senior author to the University of Winnipeg. The authors are indebted to Stephen Davis and Wayne Andrew for their comments on the data analysis and their constructive criticisms of an earlier draft of this article.     

Influence of sex and gender roles on high school status systems

Past research has indicated significant sex differences in determinants of male and female high school students' status as measured by how subjects would like to have been remembered from their high school years. In order to determine if remembrance preference is sex or gender role related, 671 subjects were administered the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) and a questionnaire asking if they most wanted to be remembered from high school as a brilliant student, leader in activities, athletic star or most popular. Using both the median split and t-ratio procedures in scoring the BSRI, 206 subjects were selected because they were sex-typed (masculine males, feminine females), cross sex-typed (masculine females, feminine males), or androgynous (scoring high on both masculine and feminine traits). To find a model of best fit, the data were subjected to a log-linear analysis. The variables included were sex, gender role, and remembrance preference. Rather than sex being the influential factor, the model of best fit was a gender role by remembrance preference interaction. If subjects were masculine, they were more likely to choose athletic star than were feminine or androgynous subjects. Most popular and leader in activities were both more likely to be chosen by feminine and androgynous subjects. All groups chose brilliant student more often than any other category. It was concluded that some previously designated sex differences may instead be differences in gender role. Further research should address the distinction between the two.     

Older men,older women: Are their perceived sex roles similar?

Men and women age 60 or older responded to Bem Sex-Role Inventory “masculinity” and “femininity” scale items on two separate administrations of the test. In the first, they described their own attributes; in the second, they described what others expected them to be like. Item analyses determined that the two sexes were more alike than different in sex-role-related attributes and perceived social expectation that they adopt both M and F attributes. Conflicts between actual and expected attributes were more frequent on “masculine” items. Those conflicted on “feminine” items tended to report depression.     

Further examination of the Self-efficacy Scale

The purpose of this study was to examine further the factorial validity of the Self-efficacy Scale via component and subsequent correlational analyses. 651 undergraduates enrolled in an introductory psychology course voluntarily completed the Self-efficacy Scale and the Bem Sex-role Inventory. A principal component analysis with an orthogonal rotation produced a two-factor solution which was remarkably similar to the factor structures reported previously. The two factors (General Self-efficacy and Social Self-efficacy) accounted for about 34% of the total variance. Further, the correlation coefficients indicated that General Self-efficacy was more strongly related to masculine traits than to feminine traits, as defined by the Bem Sex-role Inventory.     

Performance on the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test: Effects of Self-Assessment and Gender

Scholarly knowledge is traditionally believed to exist if a person answers correctly when tested. A test-taker that makes a lucky guess is thereby implicitly assumed to know as much as a person who both answers correctly and is sure of it. By incorporating sureness assessments, an additional dimension of knowledge can be obtained. In this study, 317 females and 233 males participated (predominantly White European; with mean age = 18.7 years). One group answered questions using a conventional multiple-choice answer sheet. Another group answered the same questions, but they were also instructed to assess their sureness. Significant differences were observed on the quantitative subtest; those who made self-assessments outscored those who did not, and especially individuals who rated themselves low on traits traditionally regarded as masculine (measured with Bem Sex Role Inventory) benefited from this process. Incorporating self-assessments provides extra information that makes it possible to differentiate between those who know the subject matter and those who are guessing, as well as a way to reduce the effect of the gender typing of the task on performance.     

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-roles of ideal opposite sexed persons for college males and females

Relationships between sex-roles as measured by the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) and the ideal sex-role of persons of the opposite sex as measured by a modified BSRI were investigated for 169 college males and 204 college females. The distributions of sex-roles were different for men and women, as were the distributions of ideal sex-roles of opposite sexed persons. Androgynous (A), feminine (F) and masculine (M) men identified F women as ideal, while undifferentiated (U) men identified U women as ideal. M women preferred M men, and U women preferred U men. Effects of ideal sex-role of the two sexes on sexual attraction were discussed.