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.     

Relationships Between Psychological Androgyny, Social Conformity, and Perceived Locus of Control

The decisions and attitudes of sex-stereotyped and androgynous individuals (as defined by the Bem Sex Role Inventory) were compared in a social conformity paradigm and on two measures of locus of control. Stereotypic females conformed significantly more often than androgynous females and stereotypic males (N = 30 per group). In response to a post-experimental questionnaire, stereotypic females indicated that they had been the most influenced, whereas androgynous females reported the least amount of influence from others. Data from the Personal Opinion Survey developed by Coan, Hanson, and Dobyns (1972) showed that androgynous females were reliably more internal in locus of control than stereotypic females on six of the seven factors. Implications of these data are discussed with regard to traditional effects of sex in the social conformity and locus of control literature.     

Masculinity, Femininity, and Marital Satisfaction: An Examination of Theoretical Models

ABSTRACT This study sought to investigate the relationship between masculinity, femininity, and marital satisfaction. A number of polynomial multiple regression analyses were performed in an effort to determine the validity of six theoretical models linking sex roles to marital satisfaction. These are the femininity model, masculinity model, sex-typed model, additive androgynous model, interactive androgynous model, and curvilinear model. The sample was composed of 117 couples who completed the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (Bem, 1974) and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (Spanier, 1976). For men, the results showed that marital satisfaction was related to (a) their self-described levels of femininity and masculinity, (b) the level of self-described femininity of their wives, and (c) the presence of feminine qualities as well as a limited optimal level of masculine qualities which they perceived in their wives. For women, marital satisfaction was associated with (a) the number of self-described feminine qualities and (b) the level of masculinity, as well as an optimal level of femininity, which they perceived in their husbands. Further-more, small actual-ideal discrepancies in levels of masculinity and femininity ascribed to partners constituted reliable predictors of marital satisfaction for both men and women.     

Effects of induced success/failure and attributions on the problem-solving behavior of psychologically androgynous and feminine women

The aim of the present study was to examine the relation between masculinity and femininity in women and their responses to induced success or failure. Also experimentally manipulated were the subjects' performance attributions. Psychologically androgynous and feminine women either succeeded or failed at a concept formation task and were provided with internal, external, or no causal attributions for their performance. Then a second concept formation task was administered. The attribution manipulation failed to affect task performance and was not involved in any interactions. For feminine subjects, failure increased the trials necessary to reach criterion on the second task, whereas success had no effect. In contrast, the performance of androgynous subjects was unaffected by failure but facilitated by success. Finally, whereas androgynous subjects attributed success primarily to their ability and failure to task difficulty, feminine subjects attributed success and failure about equally to these two factors. It was suggested that androgynous women's use of the “egotistical” pattern of performance attributions gives them an advantage over feminine women with respect to the maintenance of self-esteem.     

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.     

Gender schema theory revisited: men's stereotypes of American women

Bem's gender schema theory is reconsidered in terms of connections among schemas, stereotypes, and perceptions of self and others. The supposition that schematic, as opposed to aschematic persons, are more prone to think about others in stereotypic ways is tested. Primarily Caucasian adult men from all social classes (n=142), classified with the Bem Sex Role Inventory as masculine, androgynous, or undifferentiated, completed measures designed to assess strength of stereotypic views of American women and the tendency to think unidimensionally (the likelihood of perceiving women as feminine vs. androgynous). Results analyzed with multivariate analysis of variance, indicated significant differences among subject categories. Masculine (schematic) men were the most prone to see women as stereotypically high in femininity and low on masculinity. Androgynous men were more likely to perceive women as having androgynous characteristics.     

Androgeny,Flexibility, and Individualism

Questionnaire data from 195 college students were examined to clarify the relationships among masculinity, femininity, and androgyny and self-perceived flexibility and individualism. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and hiearchical regression showed no evidence for unique positive "androgyny" effects, while higher masculinity was associated with flexibility and individualism, particularly among women. Contrary to expectations, "androgynous" men were more rigid and conforming, while the cross-typed were most flexible and independent.     

Androgeny, flexibility, and individualism

Questionnaire data from 195 college students were examined to clarify the relationships among masculinity, femininity, and androgyny and self-perceived flexibility and individualism. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and hierarchical regression showed no evidence for unique positive "androgyny" effects, while higher masculinity was associated with flexibility and individualism, particularly among women. Contrary to expectations, "androgynous" men were more rigid and conforming, while the cross-typed were most flexible and independent.     

Self-rated adjustment and sex-typing on the Bem Sex-Role Inventory: Is masculinity the primary predictor of adjustment?

Questions concerning the relationship between self-rated adjustment and the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) were examined in two studies. In Study I, whether sex-typing was defined by Bem's original t-test criterion or the newer median-split criterion, superior adjustment was associated with androgynous vs. traditional typing only among women, not men. Also in conflict with the androgyny position, adjustment differences among sex-types were accounted for by differences in masculinity, not in femininity or androgyny per se. The greater contribution of masculinity vs. femininity to self-rated adjustment may be exaggerated because BSRI femininity includes items which do not load on a unidimensional femininity factor. In Study II, inspection of these unrelated items suggested that they reduce the desirability of BSRI femininity, thereby reducing its relationship to adjustment. Comparisons between standard BSRI scoring and an alternative based on unidimensional subscales revealed that the alternative femininity subscale was judged to be more desirable, and it reduced the degree of difference between masculinity and femininity in their relationships to adjustment. Superior adjustment, however, was again associated with androgynous vs. traditional sex-typing only among women, and adjustment differences among sex-types were again accounted for by differences in masculinity.The authors acknowledge the assistance of the following persons who helped in the administration, scoring, or preparation of questionnaire materials: Jill Jamison, Eric Isberg, Kay Peter, Steve Zalinger, Walter Davis, James Ball, Mark Jensen, and Heidi Sanft. Correspondence should addressed to Dr. Louise Silvern, Psychology Department, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309.     

Gender roles in the experimental community: Rajneeshpuram

This study examined gender roles at the now disbanded commune of Rajneeshpuram in Eastern Oregon. The study was a multimethod, social-psychological research project. It was expected that community members would describe themselves as androgynous. Both men and women scored high on the Feminine scale of the Personal Attributes Questionnaire, and they rated their ideal partners as androgynous. The interviews indicated that women and men did not think of themselves as feminine or androgynous, but rather as “soft.” This concept of softness is not as affect laden as that of femininity, and hence was likely to attenuate the resistance to men becoming more feminine. It was further hypothesized that occupations would have an equal number of women and men. Strict equality was not found, but many occupations manifested more of a gender balance than is seen outside of the commune. In sharp contrast to other findings, femininity was highly correlated with self-esteem.     

Relationships of Stress, Locus of Control, and Social Support to Psychiatric Symptoms and Propensity to Leave a Job: A Field Study with Managers

This study tested the main effects of (1) locus of control and social support on job stress; of (2) stress, locus of control, and social support on strain; and of (3) of stress, locus of control, social support, and strain on propensity to leave a job. The study also tested the moderating effects of locus of control and social support on the stress-strain relationship. These effects were tested with questionnaire data collected from a random sample of 288 managers. Results from hierarchical regression analyses found general support for the effects related to locus of control but not social support. A major implication for the findings is that managers who possess high internal locus of control personality should be particularly selected for positions which involve high stress.     

Masculinity,Femininity, and Hispanic Professional Women's Self-Esteem and Self-Acceptance

The literature suggests that whereas women experience unique challenges with self-esteem, Hispanic professional women experience an additional challenge of balancing majority culture values with a more family-oriented ethnic identity. This study investigated differences in self-esteem, self-acceptance, masculinity, femininity, and locus of control among Hispanic professional women, non-Hispanic professionals, scientists, college students, clients, and victims of domestic violence. Masculinity scores were significantly higher for Hispanic professional women, and self-acceptance scores were significantly lower than for other women professionals.     

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.     

Sex-role orientation and fear of success: Clarifying an unclear relationship

Inconsistencies in research concerning the relationship between fear of success (FOS) and sex-role orientation may be due to the use of sex-role inventories considering masculinity and femininity as endpoints of a bipolar continuum. The Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI; Bem, 1974), which treats masculinity and femininity as separate dimensions, was administered to 218 female undergraduates in addition to measures of FOS, achievement motivation, and performance. It was predicted that women who were androgynous (high feminine and high masculine) would evidence less FOS than women who were high masculine or high feminine. It was also predicted that women who embraced masculine characteristics (androgynous or sex-reversed) would be higher in both achievement motivation and performance than low masculine women. Both predictions were confirmed. Sex-reversed women were highest in FOS.This research was conducted with the support of a David Ross Grant from the Purdue Research Foundation to Dr. Kay Deaux and the author. Thanks are extended to William A. Fisher, Dr. Kay Deaux, and Dr. Elizabeth Farris for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this article. All correspondence should be addressed to Brenda Major, Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Buffalo, 4230 Ridge Lea Road, Buffalo, New York 14226.     

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.     

Sex role orientation and its relationship to the development of identity and moral thought

This paper examined the links among sex role orientation, ego identity development and moral reasoning. 76 female and 58 male students were assessed on Bern's sex role inventory, ego identity, care-based and justice-based moral thought. For women, identity was negatively related to femininity and positively related to androgyny. Also, high levels of care-based moral reasoning, i.e., a balanced concern for the welfare of self and others, was related to androgyny for women. There were no significant findings for men. No significant relationships were found between sex role orientation and justice-based moral reasoning. Thus, the results suggested that for women in particular, relinquishing the stereotyped sex role definition and becoming more androgynous is important for their ego identity as well as care-based moral development.     

The Impact of Parental Status and Gender Role Orientation on Caring and Postconventional Reasoning in Young Marrieds

This study was designed to examine the influence of sex and gender role orientation on adoption of the ethic of care and on postconventional reasoning in married men and women, with and without children. Parental status was unrelated to gender role orientation in men but was associated with masculinity in women, such that women with children had lower masculinity scores. Adoption of an ethic of care in men was a function of gender role orientation, such that only androgynous men did not evidence lower caring scores when they had children. Caring scores in women were a function of both parental status and masculinity, such that women with children who were high in masculinity evidenced lower caring scores. Postconventional reasoning as assessed by P scores on three dilemmas from the Defining Issues Test (DIT) were only influenced by sex and age but not by gender role orientation. Postconventional reasoning as assessed by ratings of all postconventional statements (R scores) was influenced by both sex and gender role orientation; in men, masculinity and femininity interacted such that androgynous and undifferentiated men evidenced higher R scores when they had no children, but only androgynous men with children evidenced high R scores. In women, gender role orientation did not impact R scores and neither did parental status. Multiple regressions indicated that for women, the interaction of masculinity and femininity, and caring scores, accounted for a significant amount of the variance in R scores. In men, none of the variables entered the equation. The implications for both Gilligan’s and Bem’s theories are discussed.     

Discussant's Comments Symposium: Applications of Androgyny to the Theory and Practice of Psychotherapy

As the preceding papers indicate, social change is creating pressure upon women and men to become increasingly androgynous. Thus, it is necessary to clarify the parameters of psychologically healthy androgynous functioning. Androgyny is currently defined in terms of the relative balance between masculine and feminine characteristics; it is suggested that both the relative degree of masculinity and feminity, and the particular configuration of characteristics need to be taken into account in specifying the convergence between androgyny and psychological health. Finally, the assumption that masculinity and femininity are orthogonal dimensions is questioned for some characteristics.     

Factors affecting choice,satisfaction, and success in the female self-employed

The purpose of this study was to determine variables which predict occupational choice, satisfaction, and success in the self-employment of women. In order to investigate this question, a group of female owners was compared to groups of female managers and secretaries on six variables under consideration: achievement motivation, locus of control, sex-role “masculinity,” and availability of models for ownership—father, mother, and other. There were 47 women in each group.It was found that the six variables, considered simultaneously, discriminated among the three occupational groups. The owners were higher than secretaries in achievement motivation, locus of control internality, and sex-role “masculinity.” However, there were no significant differences between owners and managers on these variables. Owners had more parental models (both fathers and mothers) for ownership than either managers or secretaries. Owners, managers, and secretaries did not differ significantly in the number of nonparental models for ownership. Neither job satisfaction nor success in business ownership were found to be related to the six variables considered simultaneously.     

The effect of interviewer guise upon gender self-report responses as a function of interviewee's self-monitoring position

Female high and low self-monitors were interviewed by a female experimenter who adopted either an androgynous or a feminine guise. An analysis of responses scored for femininity yielded a significant interaction between self-monitoring and interviewer guise which, when subjected to further analysis, revealed a significant simple effect for high self-monitors but not for low self-monitors. High self-monitors scored significantly higher on femininity when with the feminine guise interviewer, but lower when with the androgynous guise interviewer. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.