Psychological androgyny and ego development

Psychological androgyny has often been described as associated with increased behavioral flexibility, with the availability of skills in both traditionally masculine and feminine areas. Ego development has been described as involving an increasing differentiation of one's perception of self, of behavior, and of one's thoughts and feelings, as well as an increasing ability to integrate these differentiated aspects. We therefore predicted that androgynous individuals would show higher levels of ego development than sex-typed individuals, who would in turn be higher than undifferentiated subjects. Eighty-four undergraduate and graduate students completed the Washington University Sentence Completion Test and the Personality Research Form AN-DRO scale. No evidence of a relation between these measures was found. Several other negative findings have recently been reported, using other sex role measures. It appears that ego development, as currently measured, is not associated with sex-related self-concepts, as typically measured, though it may be associated with more androgynous sex role expectations of others, and with self-perceptions of agency and communion. Measures of sex-related self-concepts that provide separate scores for positive and negative attributes should be employed in future studies.This report is based on a thesis conducted by the first author in partial fulfillment of requirements for a master's degree in psychology, under the supervision of the second author. The authors are grateful to Leo Goldberger, Bob Holt, and an anonymous reviewer for helpful comments on an earlier draft of this report.     

Psychological androgyny and social desirability

The concept of psychological androgyny, because of its implications for sex roles, social change, and human development, is presently of special theoretical interest. Psychologically androgynous persons, as identified by the Bern Sex Role Inventory (BSRI), score higher on both its femininity and masculinity scales. Given the psychometric properties of the BSRI, it can be hypothesized that androgynous persons will have higher social desirability scores. Yet, the "masculine male" and the "feminine female" may be the most socially desirable, in that they conform to normative expectations. Consequently it can also be hypothesized that individuals who are either masculine-typed males or feminine-typed females on the BSRI will have the higher social desirability scores. Neither prediction was found to be entirely accurate; instead, androgynous and feminine-typed individuals were found to have higher social desirability scores. Moreover, the data reveal that the BSRI femininity scale has social desirability characteristics which are sex-specific.     

Psychological androgyny and college students' judgments of mental health

College students' perceptions of the mental health of men and women were examined in comparison to an adult health standard. Two hundred forty male and female undergraduates were asked to describe a socially competent healthy adult man, healthy adult woman, or a healthy adult (sex unspecified) using the Bem Sex-Role Inventory, which provides a measurement of androgyny as well as masculinity and femininity. In accordance with the Broverman, Broverman, Clarkson, Rosenkrantz, and Vogel (1970) study of clinicians' perceptions, the healthy man was described as similar to the adult standard, while the healthy woman was not. Unlike the Broverman et al. (1970) study, the male but not the female subjects perceived the healthy woman as different, suggesting that college women may be less likely to endorse sex-linked conceptions of mental health than their male counterparts.     

Psychological androgyny and personality adjustment in college and psychiatric populations

In two separate studies, 106 female and 84 male undergraduates and 48 female and 48 male psychiatric inpatients were administered the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) and the Faschingbauer Abbreviated Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. The masculine, feminine, androgynous, and undifferentiated groups identified from the BSRI differed on a variety of personality scales in both normal and clinical populations. Androgynous females were significantly lower on the Depression (D) and Social Introversion (Si) scales than feminine females, and, in the college sample, were also lower on the Schizophrenia and Mania scales than masculine females. In the hospitalized male sample, this pattern was partially sustained, with androgynous and masculine subjects being significantly less deviant than feminine on the Si scale, and tending to score lower on the D scale. In the group of college males, androgynous males scored lower on the Si scale than feminine males. Hypotheses concerning the relationship of sex-role flexibility (androgyny) to mental health appear to be supported for females in both college and psychiatric populations by these results. These results also indicate that sex-role conformity may relate differently to personality development and psychological functioning for males and females.     

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.     

Psychological states and traits in female agoraphobics: A controlled study

Recent surveys on the psychology of agoraphobia point to the paucity of sound empirical studies addressing personality and symptomatology factors related to the disorder. In the present study, a sample of female agoraphobics was compared with control groups of nonphobic psychiatric and of nonpatient normal female Ss on a relatively large number of psychological state and trait measures. Besides scoring clearly higher than both groups of controls on agoraphobic symptoms, agoraphobics, as a group, scored significantly higher in terms of (a) anxiety, (b) certain components of depression, (c) interpersonal difficulties, (d) general psychological malaise, and (e) fears of bodily injury, illness, and death as well. Further, compared to both groups of controls, agoraphobics could be characterized by higher levels of (a) neuroticism, (b) seclusion (low on extraversion and sociability and showing greater tendencies toward isolating themselves from social contacts), (c) situational dependency (higher scores on a restrictive style of living), (d) passivity (greater hypoactivity), and (e) intropunitiveness (scores in more intropunitive than extrapunitive direction). The claim, frequently made in the clinical literature, that agoraphobics have dependent personalities was not confirmed.     

Masculinity,femininity, and androgyny: A methodological and theoretical critique

The three primary purposes of this investigation are: (1) to apply confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to responses from three instruments [Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI), Comrey Personality Scale (CPS), and Australian Sex Role Scale (ASRS) developed by Antill and his colleagues] designed to measure masculinity (M) and femininity (F); (2) to determine the correlation between M and F on each instrument and to relate the results to the design of the instrument; and (3) to describe a new theoretical model that posits global M and global F to be multifaceted, higher order constructs. When CFA was used to define one M and one F factor from responses to each instrument, the disattenuated correlations between M and F were +0.58 (BSRI), ?.50 (ASRS), and ?1.0 (CPS). Thus, responses from two instruments supported the separation of M and F, but differed in the direction of the correlation for the two traits, while the third provided remarkably strong support for a bipolar MF continuum. Despite the apparent inconsistency, the observed correlations were explicable in terms of the design of each instrument. While the two-factor model provided a reasonable fit for the BSRI, more complicated models were better able to fit responses to the ASRS and CPS. Results from this investigation and other research were used to formulate a new theoretical model.     

A female perspective on religion in the American experience

American women have had an ambivalent experience with religion. It has served to suppress and to liberate. Opportunities for leadership provided a foundation for many of the women's movements. The move from voluntary leadership to a demand for the professional, remunerative positions raises traditional prejudices to which women have, historically and currently, responded in three ways.Her article is a revised version of an address presented at a Colloquium on Religion in the American Experience held at Jacksonville University, October 16–17, 1975.     

A holistic perspective on career development in UK female soccer players: A negative case analysis

ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to examine career experiences of UK-based female youth soccer players from a holistic perspective with a view to producing a grounded theory of factors contributing to career/talent development and transitions in UK youth female soccer.MethodologyA Grounded Theory methodology (Corbin & Strauss, 2008) was used. Negative case (Denzin, 1989) former female soccer players (N = 13), their best friend (N = 13), soccer coaches (N = 4), and teachers (N = 8) took part in semi-structured interviews about factors associated with talent development and career transitions in female youth soccer.ResultsMultiple social agents (players, team-mates, peers, teachers, parents and siblings) need to optimally interact to ensure that an optimal talent development and learning environment is created. This will provide a supportive holistic talent development environment, lead to adaptive player-level changes, and a greater chance of successful athletic and dual career development.ConclusionsThis study presents a rich understanding of the dual careers of players who did not make it in female soccer. By considering their perspectives alongside of a range of important social agents, we have been able to construct a substantive grounded theory of factors contributing to career/talent development and transitions in UK youth female soccer. As a result, these findings may contribute to policy and practice development in UK female youth soccer.     

The second androgyny: A proposed revision in adaptive priorities for college women

Evidence has accumulated suggesting that androgyny, as popularly conceived (i.e., balanced and flexible display of masculine and feminine behaviors across situations), has more adaptive value for women than for men and even that it holds less value than believed for women. Four sex types were compared in a series of studies bearing upon psychological adjustment in college women: (1) balanced androgyny, (2) blended androgyny that integrates masculinity and femininity, (3) femininity, and (4) masculinity. In three out of four studies that considered daily stress symptoms, Type A characteristics, and menstrual distress, balanced androgynes demonstrated the poorest psychological adaptation and blended androgynes the best. The fourth study considered the psychological characteristics associated with eating disorders and found feminine women to be the most maladapted. Interpretation of the trend of results in terms of identity problems for the balanced androgynous woman was offered.     

Psychological impact of breast cancer on the patient and the family: A clinical perspective

Breast cancer is the most frequently occurring cancer in women, with 182,000 new cases diagnosed in 1993. Breast cancer will strike a sizable percentage of women during the child-rearing years impacting, therefore, not only on the woman, but on the significant others in her life. This article explores the impact of breast cancer for the patient's life partner, parents, and children. A model intervention program for cancer patients with young children, piloted at the Derner Institute and developed in conjunction with the American Cancer Society, is also discussed.     

Type A behaviour and psychological androgyny among Greek college students

Research conducted primarily in the United States suggests that the combination of Type A behaviour, high instrumentality, and low expressiveness may place individuals at relatively high risk for coronary-artery and heart disease. The present research investigates the trans-societal generalizability of the structure, reliability, relationships among, and distributional characteristics of these measures for 117 college students in Athens, Greece. As hypothesized, the Greek students were significantly less instrumental and less expressive than the American students, and scored significantly higher on the measure of Type A. Although there were significant mean differences between these samples, the results suggest that many of the interscale relationships are comparable, supporting an etic (universal) interpretation of the findings. Nevertheless, the results suggested several emic (unique) characteristics of these measures and their interrelationships.     

Gender roles and decision-making in demographically diverse groups: A case for reviving androgyny

This study examined the gender roles of members of demographically diverse groups and the outcomes of group decision-making. In a laboratory exercise, 40 4-person groups made decisions concerning a complex business case. Groups with high levels of androgyny across members made higher quality decisions than did groups with low levels of androgyny. Group commitment to the decision, however, did not differ by level of androgyny. It was high levels of femininity that was associated with high commitment. Furthermore, the androgyny levels of group members who were women or non-European in descent were more important to decision quality than were those of males of European descent. The findings encourage further investigation of androgyny in settings where complex social interaction occurs and with dependent variables at the group level.     

家庭第一代大学生的心理挑战及其解析——基于文化不匹配理论的视角

家庭第一代大学生在大学校园的学习和生活中都面临着一定的挑战。以往文献表明家庭第一代大学生表现出了明显的心理适应水平低, 学校参与度不高以及学业表现不足。文化不匹配理论从大学生的文化自我模式与高校文化规范之间关系出发, 解释了家庭第一代大学生在大学生活中的适应与学业成就等方面的不利处境。以文化不匹配理论为基础, 对家庭第一代大学生所面临的心理行为挑战及其干预实践进行了系统的回顾。未来的研究可以关注人格因素对文化不匹配的调节作用, 也可以探讨教育多样化在推进教育公平过程中的角色以及我国家庭第一代大学生的独特心理特征等内容。     

Sex-role perceptions among black female athletes and nonathletes

This study compared sex-role perceptions of Black female college athletes and nonathletes, and examined the relationship between sex-role perceptions and socioeconomic, demographic, familial, and psychological variables. The study replicated, in part, similar research by Snyder and Kivlin, who found differences in sex-role perceptions between athletes and nonathletes. Statistical treatment of data included chi-square technique, correlation, and multiple regression analysis. Interpretation of data indicated no significant differences in sex-role perceptions between Black female athletes and nonathletes. Independent variables influencing sex-role perceptions to a significant degree included age and body weight for both subgroups, with lesser influence derived from parental education level and psychological variables. Athletes' perception of their ability and the age they began their training influenced sex-role perceptions significantly. Athletic experiences for Black females appears distinct from that of White females, as perceived by the athlete and community, and this distinction influences sex-role perceptions of female athletes.This article is a revision of a paper presented at the meeting of the Mid-South Sociological Society, Shreveport, La., October 1981.     

The age of androgyny: The new views of psychotherapists

Male therapists no longer engage in sexual stereotyping in their views of mentally healthy men and women as 15 previous studies had shown. Both male and female therapists, both psychiatrists and psychologists, held a single androgynous standard of mental health for both men and women. Psychologists scored higher on this androgyny factor than psychiatrists. Therapists with many women patients scored higher on this androgyny factor than therapists with few women patients.