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.     

Sex-role identity and “being-inrelation”: The implications for women counsellors

In order to assess whether women are predisposed to make better counsellors than men, a group of 53 women and men were tested for differences in sex-role identity, and relational/autonomous qualities as defined in the the theory of the Stone Center, Massachusetts. There was no significant difference between men and women in terms of sex-role identity. Individuals lacking any clear sex-role identity showed significantly lower levels of relational/autonomous qualities. While the research did not demonstrate that women are predisposed to make better counsellors than men it indicated the following possible trends: changing sex-role identity in both men and women; the prevalence of sex-role identity biological sex as a determinant of psychological characteristics; the importance of sex-role acquisition for psychological well-being.     

Sex-role and innovative major choice among college students

This study examined the relationship between sex-role and nontraditional major choice. The sample included 693 male and female students enrolled in traditional and nontraditional majors. In addition to exploring this relationship the study had a methodological intent: Could scales derived from previous factor analyses of the Bem Sex-Role Inventory delineate this relationship as readily as the traditional Bem scoring method. Results indicate significant distributional patterns in sex-role and choice of major, which vary by sex. Men tend to choose male-dominated majors, regardless of sex-role. Patterns for females are more complex. The factored scales used in cross-validated discriminate analysis procedures did demonstrate some power to discriminate students in the two majors, suggesting certain implications for sex-role transcendence in vocational settings.     

A comparison of the Bem Sex-Role Inventory and the Heilbrun Masculinity and Femininity Scales

This study compares two instruments which have recently been devised to measure sex-role identification, Heilbrun's Masculinity and Femininity Scales and the Bem Sex-Role Inventory. Correlations between the masculine and feminine scales of these instruments were significant for male but not female subjects; intrascale comparisons found no relationship between the Bem scales but moderate correlations between the Heilbrun scales for male subjects. There was agreement between the two measures in classifying approximately 47% of the subjects into one of the four sex-role categories. Misclassification occurred primarily on categories which have been found to show considerable overlap in personality characteristics.     

Clinical Utility of the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) in the Spanish Transsexual and Nontranssexual Population

The aim of the study is to evaluate the usefulness of the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI; Bem, 1974), an overall measurement of the cultural construct of masculinity and femininity, in the psychological assessment of Spanish transsexuals. Seventy male-to-female transsexuals (MF), 51 female-to-male transsexuals (FM), 77 control men, and 79 control women completed the Spanish version of the BSRI. Statistically significant differences between groups were only found on the femininity scale, on which MF transsexuals and control women scored significantly higher than FM transsexuals and control men. The results indicate that (a) only the femininity scale of the BSRI appears to be useful today for evaluating differences in the sex-role identification in Spanish controls and transsexuals; and (b) MF and FM transsexuals score as a function of their gender identity instead of their anatomical sex on the BSRI femininity scale.     

Sex roles and fertility in college women

A study was conducted to examine the relationship of sex-role acceptance to actual and desired fertility. Two samples of women (105 undergraduates and 40 members of a women's organization) were administered the Bem Sex-Role Inventory and a questionnaire which assessed the women's behavioral acceptance of traditional female sex roles. The behavioral measures were sex-typed college major for the undergraduates and employment status for the women's organization sample. In addition, vocational interests were measured and related to fertility for the women's organization sample. Multiple regression analyses indicated that behavioral measures of sex-role acceptance accounted for more variance in predicting desired and actual fertility than did the Bem Sex-Role Inventory.     

Clinical utility of the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) in the Spanish transsexual and nontranssexual population

The aim of the study is to evaluate the usefulness of the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI; Bem, 1974), an overall measurement of the cultural construct of masculinity and femininity, in the psychological assessment of Spanish transsexuals. Seventy male-to-female transsexuals (MF), 51 female-to-male transsexuals (FM), 77 control men, and 79 control women completed the Spanish version of the BSRI. Statistically significant differences between groups were only found on the femininity scale, on which MF transsexuals and control women scored significantly higher than FM transsexuals and control men. The results indicate that (a) only the femininity scale of the BSRI appears to be useful today for evaluating differences in the sex-role identification in Spanish controls and transsexuals; and (b) MF and FM transsexuals score as a function of their gender identity instead of their anatomical sex on the BSRI femininity scale.     

Sex roles, gender, and fear

Male and female college students classified as masculine, feminine, androgynous, or undifferentiated on the Bem (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-role typing as related to acceptance of self, acceptance of others, and discriminatory attitudes toward women

This study examines four hypotheses relating sex-role typing to self-acceptance, acceptance of others, and sexist attitudes toward women. University students completed the Bem Sex-Role Inventory, the Berger Self-Acceptance Scale, and the Macho Scale. Findings showed more self-acceptance than acceptance of others among masculine-typed subjects and more acceptance of others than self-acceptance among feminine-typed subjects. Feminine-typed males and masculine-type females showed least self-acceptance among the six groups, while androgynous subjects showed highest self-acceptance. Masculine-typed males were least accepting of others and scored highest in discriminatory attitudes toward women. Male subjects showed greater variability than did female subjects on all scales, and Bem's measure of sex-role typing proved a more efficient moderator of scores of males than of those of females. Additional personality and behavioral research with sex-role typing variables is proposed.     

Sex-role androgyny and patterns of causal attribution for academic achievement

In order to test the role of social psychological factors in the underrepresentation of women in mathmatics and related academic fields, a two-wave panel survey was conducted among freshmen university students (88 females and 44 males). Before and during their first academic year, survey respondents completed questionnaires assessing their psychological androgyny (employing the Bem Sex-Role Inventory) and their causal attributions for success and failure in various areas of academic achievement. Results of cross-lagged panel correlation analyses confirmed the predicted causal relationship between sex-role identification and feelings of control over achievement in mathematics and science among female respondents. No such relationship was evidenced among male respondents or among females for nonmathematical areas of academic achievement.     

Femininity and work plans protect women against postpartum dysphoria

This study examined contributions of the following variables to postpartum depressive symptomatology: level of antepartum depression, loss of social reinforcement, assertiveness, sex-role orientation, and work plans. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Pleasant Events Schedule (PES), Assertion Inventory, and Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) were administered to 69 women during the eighth month of pregnancy. One month after delivery, subjects were administered the PES, postdelivery questionnaire, and BDI. A hierarchical regression analysis revealed that antepartum BDI scores predicted postpartum depressive symptomatology, and BSRI Femininity scores and work plans were significant negative predictors. A one-way analysis of variance of sex role orientation on postpartum BDI scores showed that undifferentiated women reported more depression than other sex role groups.     

The relationship of gender,sex role,and law-and-order attitudes to nuclear opinions

Australian students' attitudes to nuclear weapons were considered in relation to sex-role identification and political orientations. By including a measure of sex-role orientation, we hoped to clarify earlier confusion surrounding gender as a predictor of nuclear views. Our hypothesis was that men and women with feminine sex-role orientations would display the strongest antinuclear feelings. Also, we predicted that an authoritarian political stance advocating strict law-and-order on the domestic front would predict support for nuclear weapons in international defense. The subjects were 46 male and 62 female first-year university students. The measure of nuclear attitudes was a 23-item inventory (NARQ) which had previously been extensively refined and validated for Australian populations (Jennings & Lawrence, 1986). The BSRI (Bem, 1974) measured sex-role orientation. An Australian law-and-order scale was also developed for this research. Latent trait models for rating data were applied to NARQ and law-and-order scales. The results revealed sex differences on approximately one-third of the nuclear opinion items, with men expressing stronger support for nuclear weapons in every case. Authoritarian law-and-order attitudes likewise predicted support for nuclear weapons in both men and women. A stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that BSRI masculinity and law-and order made separate, statistically significant, contributions to overall variation in nuclear views. These results were considered in relation both to previous research and to practical implications for political behavior.     

Field independence as a function of sex, sex-roles, and the sex-role appropriateness of the task

Two experiments were conducted to explain the sex difference in field independence by reference to socialization factors. It was hypothesized that the sex-role appropriateness of the task as masculine or feminine-typed would influence the performance of masculine and feminine women in a manner congruent with their sex-role orientation. 28 pilot subjects and 100 subjects in Study 2 were equally divided between the sexes. Both studies used the Bem Sex-role Inventory, but different versions of the Embedded Figures Test. The over-all results suggested that feminine women varied their performance according to task appropriateness, although not always in a manner congruent with their sex-role orientation. Androgynous individuals and masculine men did not alter their performance.     

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.     

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.     

Further evidence on androgyny and interpersonal flexibility

The component scales from which Bem's index of psychological androgyny is derived are better thought of as measures of dominance and nurturance, rather than “masculinity” and “femininity.” When the Bem scales were administered to 202 male and female college students, along with eight scales that form an interpersonal circumplex, it was once again found that stereotyped, near-stereotyped, and androgynous classifications on the Bem index generalized to sex-role stereotype classifications on other dimensions of interpersonal behavior, as well. Moreover, the Bem index was found to be based on the best available combination of orthogonal interpersonal scales for measuring sex-role stereotypy. In this recent sample of college students, the hypothesis that Bem's index of androgyny reflects the more general construct of interpersonal flexibility was confirmed for both male and female subjects. The recognition that Bem's index of androgyny is specific to the interpersonal domain should encourage others to develop androgyny indices in other domains such as temperatment, interests, and cognitive styles.     

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-role attitudes,identities, and political ideology

This study examines whether sex-role identities and attitudes toward sex roles are part of a more general liberal—conservative dimension of political ideology. Survey data are analyzed from two independent random samples of Indiana University students in 1974–1975. Sex-role attitudes are measured by two scales, dealing with evaluations of the traditional sex-based division of labor and levels of sex-stereotyping of various tasks. The Bem Sex Role Inventory is used to measure respondents' sex-role identities. Those who score more liberal or flexible on each measure of sex-role attitudes are also very likely to hold liberal political attitudes. These correlations are strong and consistent enough to indicate that sex-role attitudes fit into a more general liberal—conservative ideology, at least among college students. Correlations between sex-role identities and political attitudes are much weaker. Among men, liberal political attitudes are associated with a more flexible (androgynous) sex-role identity; among women, in contrast, liberal political attitudes are related more consistently to a more traditionally masculine sex-role identity.We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the Indiana University Women's Studies Program, Michael A. Maggiotto, Christine Williams, and especially Barbara Allen for her insightful comments and capable data analysis.     

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.