Nightmare frequency and femininity/masculinity

Several large-scale studies showed that women tend to report nightmares more often than men. Despite this robust finding, empirically tested interpretations of these sex differences are lacking. Levin and Nielsen put forward the hypothesis that sex-specific socialization might be one of the risk factors for nightmare occurrence. The present findings of an online survey indicate that expressivity/femininity and instrumentality/masculinity were related to nightmare fre quency and, thus, supported this hypothesis. Since the sex difference in nightmare frequency was not fully explained by these two variables, future studies should investigate other variables--in addition to sex-role orientation--like depressive symptoms, history of sexual and/or physical abuse, ruminative coping styles, and physiological measures of processing emotional stimuli within the brain.     

Prototypes and dimensions of masculinity and femininity

Sex Roles - Researchers have criticized existing measures of masculinity and femininity, largely on the basis of their unidimensional nature. The purpose of the present research was twofold: first,...     

Role of femininity and masculinity in distressed couples' communication

The relationship between sex role identity and marital communication of maritally distressed couples was examined. Interactional behavior of 60 maritally distressed couples was coded with the Marital Interaction Coding System and examined in relation to the level of femininity and masculinity of the spouses. Base-rate analyses indicated that femininity was positively related to greater rates of negative behavior among husbands and wives. As predicted, sequential analyses supported that wives' femininity was associated with greater negative reciprocity of the wives. Men's femininity was associated with husbands' tendency to terminate fewer negative sequences of behavior in comparison with their wives. High masculinity of the wives was associated with shorter sequences of negative behavior. Implications of the findings and future directions for research are discussed.     

Convergent and discriminant validity of selected masculinity and femininity scales

Using Campbell and Fiske's (1959) multitrait-multimethod matrix technique and Jackson's (1975) multimethod factor analysis, convergent and discriminant validity were investigated for masculinity and femininity scales from the Adjective Check List, Bem Sex Role Inventory, and PRF ANDRO Scale as compared with measures of dominance and nurturance. Results indicated very good convergent and discriminant validity for the masculinity and femininity scales from the Adjective Check List and Bem Inventory, but not for the PRF ANDRO Scale. Implications of these results for research on sex roles and psychological androgyny are discussed.     

The relationship between masculinity and the Type A behavior pattern: the moderating effects of femininity

The purpose of the study was to examine whether a high level of masculinity is associated with the Type A behavior pattern, and whether the level of femininity moderates any main effect for masculinity. The subjects were 743 male and 560 female undergraduate students. In the statistical analysis, we found evidence of the masculinity effect on every Type A score, and a moderating effect of femininity on the “speed‐power” subscale score. We discuss the validity of four models of the functions of masculinity and femininity, and consider the moderating effect of femininity in the light of the interactive androgyny model.     

The development of the concepts of masculinity and femininity in young children

Sex-role concepts in 140 children aged 3 to 7 were assessed by means of an instrument that allowed children to categorize attributes as being characteristic of males only, females only, both males and females, or nobody. The children sorted attributes once for adult peer stimulus figures and once for peer stimulus figures. The relationship of gender conservation to the degree of stereotyping of children's response was also investigated. The overlap children saw between characteristics of males and females increased with age over the age span studied. Girls were less sex-typed than boys, particularly those girls whose mothers were employed. Gender conservation was associated with decreased sex-typing. The tendency of children to assign positive attributes to their own sex and negative attributes to the other sex peaked at age 5. Subjects overall were less sex-typed in their views of adults than peers.     

Equating the social desirability of Bem Sex-Role Inventory masculinity and femininity subscales

Two experiments investigated the social desirability of Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) items. Mean social desirability of the masculinity subscale was significantly higher than that of the femininity subscale in both experiments. A revision of the BSRI femininity subscale was suggested which replaced three items of questionable social value with three more socially desirable items and virtually eliminated the social desirability difference between masculinity and femininity subscales.     

Multidimensional self-concepts,masculinity, and femininity as a function of women's involvement in athletics

Measures of multidimensional self-concepts, masculinity (M), and femininity (F) were completed by high-school women athletes and nonathletes, and by young-adult women athletes and nonathletes. Women athletes in both age groups had substantially higher scores in M and in self-concept of physical ability, but did not differ substantially from nonathletes in F and in other areas of self-concept. Women athletes in both groups also judged their self-concept of physical ability to be more important to them than did nonathletes, but the two groups did not differ in the perceived importance of other areas of self-concept. These findings support the androgyny contention that MF should not be considered a bipolar construct and suggest that women can be more M without being less F. The specificity of the relation between athletic involvement and the multiple dimensions of self-concept also provide further support for the construct validity of the self-concept dimensions.The authors would like to acknowledge Lindsay McCaughan for his assistance in the design of the study, the staff and students at Pymble Ladies College, and the group of female powerlifters.     

Relationship of femininity,masculinity, and gender to attribution of responsibility

Brickman, Rabinowitz, Karuza, Coates, Cohn, and Kidder (Models of Helping and Coping, American Psychologist, 1982, 37, 368–384) have proposed four attributional models defined by two dimensions: responsibility for causes of problems and for solutions to problems. The relationship of femininity masculinity, and gender to the attributtional models was explored in a sample of 205 subjects. Femininity and masculinity were measured with the Interpersonal Disposition Inventory (IDI) and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ). Subjects also responded to two measures of the attributional models. Findings included a significant association between femininity and low internal attribution of responsibility for problem solving. Results are discussed in terms of sex role and gender differences in help seeking.This paper is based in part on a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. degree at the University of Kentucky.I would like to thank Juris I. Berzins, Michael T. Nietzel, Jesse G. Harris, Jr., Caryl Rusbult, and Robert Straus for their assistance with the dissertation research; and Larry Panciera and Evelyn Crumpton for their comments on an earlier draft of the paper.     

A critical review of a recent decade of stuttering research

The purpose of the present investigation was to catalogue and evaluate portions of the literature on stuttering from 1967 to 1977. Of particular interest was the identification of the research literature. Of 287 articles located and evaluated, 181 were research reports. These reports were categorized according to topics, subject selection, subjects' characteristics, type of research designs and use of randomization, reliability, and statistical methods. Unhappily, many of the faults identified in reviews ten to twenty years earlier tended to persist, and many of the deficiencies recently cited by authorities in the field were found to characterize this literature.     

Unmitigated agency and unmitigated communion: An analysis of the negative components of masculinity and femininity

The negative components of masculinity and femininity, conceptualized by Spence and her colleagues (1979) as unmitigated agency and unmitigated communion, were explored by examining dominant and submissive acts used in their expression. In three separate sessions, subjects (N=129) completed scales designed to measure these constructs, a Dominance Act Report, and a Submissiveness Act Report. Dominant acts used in the expression of unmitigated agency involved the formation of separations (e.g., making decisions without consulting the others involved in them), narcissistic self-assertion (e.g., telling others to perform one's menial tasks), and self-protection (e.g., bluffing one's way out of an embarrassing situation). Submissive acts used in the expression of unmitigated communion involved failing to make normatively appropriate agentic responses (e.g., walking out of a store knowing that one had been short-changed) and subjugating personal desires to group wishes (e.g., giving up vacation plans in deference to the preferences of others). Discussion focuses on elaborating the concepts of unmitigated agency and unmitigated communion.     

Vocational interests,personality, and sociosexuality as indicators of a general masculinity/femininity factor

Several individual difference domains include variables that show substantial sex differences and may be considered indicators of masculinity/femininity (M/F). We examined the structure of gender-related characteristics from three domains (vocational interests, personality characteristics, and sociosexually relevant sexual fantasies) to determine whether a general factor of M/F can be derived even when participant sex is controlled, and if so, which domains and which variables within those domains are the best indicators of that factor. In a sample of 198 undergraduate students, we found strong intercorrelations between indicators of M/F across domains in the combined-sex sample but only weak intercorrelations within sex. The results also indicated that a general masculinity/femininity factor could be obtained, even when participant sex was controlled, and was defined more strongly by personality characteristics and sociosexuality of sexual fantasies than by vocational interests.