Motherhood and Sex Role Development

No abstract available for this article.     

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 Roles,Gender, and Fear

Male and female college students classified as masculine, feminine, androgynous, or undifferentiated on the Bern (1974) Sex Role Inventory (N = 199) were given the Wolpe (1969) Fear Inventory. Significant differences in average fear scores were seen between men and women and between the four sex-role categories, with sex role and gender contributing equally to the variability. The argument is raised here that excessive fearfulness or fearlessness might be as much a product of sex-role conditioning as a product of gender.     

Sex,Sex Roles,and Sexual Attitudes: Figure Gender in the Draw-A-Person Test Revisited

A study of 116 subjects examined the relationships among subject sex, experimenter sex, sex roles, and sexual attitudes as predictors of drawing the same-sex figure on the Draw-A-Person test (DAP). Results indicate that subject and experimenter sex are consistent and significant predictors of picture sex. Masculinity and sexual attitudes also predict but only for female picture attributes. The subjects' response to current, historically determined attitudes toward gender and gender roles must be seen as strong influences on the sex of the drawn picture. A model of some determinants of the sex of the drawn figure is offered.     

Sex Differences,Sex Roles,and Projection on the TAT: Matching Stimulus to Examinee Gender

We examined the assumption that on the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) examinees identify more with stimulus characters of the same sex as themselves and therefore produce more projective material when tested with these gender matched cards. Repeated measures analyses of variance and t tests showed no increase in projection as a result of matching gender or sex role of subject to card stimulus. Results do not support the clinical utility of the separate male and female sets of TAT cards.     

Gender Roles,Sex, and the Process of Psychotherapy: Many Questions and Few Answers

While gender roles have a profound effect on individuals in our culture, there has been a dearth of research on the impact of counselor and client gender roles on the therapy process. Also, the research and theory that do exist on this topic suffer from the misguided assumption that biological sex is equivalent to socialized gender role behaviors. The authors review and critique the research and theory on sex, gender roles, and the process of therapy. A new paradigm through which to view and conduct this research is offered, and a number of potentially fruitful directions for future research are suggested.     

Changing Sex Roles and Worklife Flexibility

It has been hypothesized that the rise of women workers and nontraditional sex roles have fostered pressures for realignments of the amount and scheduling of work time. Data from exploratory survey research on a sample of 791 county employees supports and elaborates the existence of relationships between changing sex roles and preferences for alternative work patterns. Speculations are made about future sex roles and work time arrangements.     

On Sex Roles and Representations of Emotional Experience: Masculinity,Femininity, and Emotional Awareness

The hypothesis was that individuals higher in femininity and lower in masculinity would evidence more complex representations of the emotions they and others might experience in a range of evocative situations. Participants initially completed the short form of the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI-SF; S. Bem L. 1981). Approximately 2 months later, they completed an abridged Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale (LEAS; R. D. Lane, D. M. Quinlan, G. E. Schwartz, P. A. Walker, & S. B. Zeitlin, 1990), which consists of describing, in an open-ended format, the emotional reactions another and oneself may experience in various scenes. Responses to the LEAS are scored for degree of complexity. As expected, higher masculinity was associated with lower complexity in representations of one's own and others' emotions. However, no relation was found between femininity and complexity of representation.     

Feminist Challenges to the Social Structure and Sex Roles

A social-psychological and historical context for understanding con-temporary sex roles, fertility, parenting, and the family is provided by reviewing origins and objectives of the Women's Movement. Feminist efforts to change social structures affecting women's choice of roles and fertility require continued attention. Increased voluntary childlessness seriously challenges the concept of motherhood as central to adult feminine identity and legitimization of choice in whether or not to become a parent provides a new context for studying women, sex roles, fertility, and their complex relationships to the social structure. Continued challenges to premises, methodologies, and conclusions of such research are urged.     

"Normal" Sex Roles: An Historical Analysis

Parental sex-role performance has been used as a criterion for differentiating normal and pathogenic families. Sex roles assumed to be normative are normative only for a specific society at a specific time. Sex roles assumed to be normative in the modern, urban, middle-class family were determined by economic and social changes that took place in the early nineteenth century. These changes effected a new division of function between the sexes that had serious psychological consequences. A behavior code was formulated as a social response to the need to facilitate adaptation. The behavior prescribed in this code is behavior now defined by sociologists as normative. The problems the code attempted to alleviate have not diminished, and there is evidence suggesting that the prescribed behavior is itself a source of psychological strains. Social role performance, therefore, is an unsatisfactory criterion for identifying pathogenic families.     

In Honor of Sex Roles: Reflections on the History and Development of the Journal

This article celebrates 35 years of Sex Roles’ contributions to research and other scholarship about gender. It begins with a reminder of what academia was like prior to the rise of second-wave feminism and shows how Sex Roles contributed to changing that androcentric climate. The article describes the founding of the journal and traces its growth and development, including its internationalization. Trends in the research topics reported in its pages are reviewed; assessment measures that debuted in Sex Roles, topics of special issues of the journal, and names of all of those who served on the editorial board over the years are mentioned. The article closes with speculation about the journal’s future.     

Sex Roles and Social Skills Considerations for Interpersonal Adjustment

In light of claims that sex roles are differentially related to behavioral flexibility, the current study investigated the relationship between sex role orientations and performance in interpersonal situations. Males and females in each of four sex role categories (masculine-typed, feminine-typed, androgynous and undifferentiated) role-played situations requiring the appropriate expression of either commendatory or refusal assertiveness. Androgynous subjects were most effective in rated skills components for both types of situations, while undifferentiated subjects were highly ineffective. Complex interpersonal situations apparently require the use of well-integrated masculine and feminine social skills.