A confirmatory factor analysis of the Bem Sex Role Inventory: Old questions,new answers

LISREL analyses of data from a sample of 671 adults (90% Caucasian, 10% Black) evaluated (a) item factor structure of the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI), (b) second-order factor model for the item factors, and (c) structural equation models estimating age and gender differences in these factors. Seven first-order item factors were extracted and found to have equivalent factor loadings for males and females. Item factors were related to two second-order factors: Masculinity and Femininity. There were relatively small age and gender differences in the first- and second-order factors. There was a differential relationship between self-rated masculinity and femininity and the first-order BSRI item factors for males and females. Results suggest that the BSRI best assesses gender-related personality traits and represents only one component of the complex multidimensional construct of gender roles.We thank Herbert W. Marsh and an anonymous reviewer for valuable comments on previous drafts of this article.     

Experience and Performance: Contrasting ‘Identity’ in Feminist Theorizings

Connecting identity, broadly defined to recent advances in educational research, this paper takes up two different feminist treatments based in pragmatism and poststructuralism. The first is from Charlene Haddock Seigfried on experience, and the second is from Peggy Phelan on performance. The first is in keeping with a dominant tradition to secure identity through visibility and the second suggests critique through a turn to invisibility. The first arises out of Dewey's naturalism and the second through Lacan, performance art, and anti-representation. At bottom is suggestion that an entire narrative tradition in educational research is potentially self-defeating.     

Latent structure of the Sex-Role Egalitarianism Scale: Confirmatory factor analyses

The dimensionality of alternate forms of the Sex-Role Egalitarianism Scale (SRES) was assessed using confirmatory factor analysis. The subjects, predominantly Caucasian students from seven colleges in the United States and Canada, completed Form B (n = 1,351) and Form K (n = 633) of the instrument. A series of hierarchically nested measurement models was specified and evaluated. A hypothesized two-factor, second-order solution was deemed most appropriate for both forms: a higher order “Intimate Relationship Egalitarianism” factor that subsumes three first-order domain factors (marital, parental, and social-interpersonal-heterosexual roles) and a higher-order “Formal Relationship Egalitarianism” factor that subsumes two first-order domain factors (educational and employment roles). A preliminary report of this study was presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Society, June 1995, New York City.     

Modern to postmodern: Social construction, dissonance, and education

Modernist educational practice operates within an overarching norm of consonance, notions of sameness and agreement that permeate schools and classroom life. This paper posits a needed move to postmodern educational theory and practice through dissonance. Following an intellectual contextualization, two sets of philosophical claims are presented. The first promotes social construction of reality and the second poses dissonance rather than consonance. The paper concludes with a look at education from this postmodern perspective.     

The sex-role egalitarianism scale: A measure of attitudes toward equality between the sexes

Two parallel forms of the Sex-Role Egalitarianism Scale (SRES) were developed. Each form includes 19 items representing each of five domains of adult living: marital roles, parental roles, employee roles, social-interpersonal-heterosexual roles, and educational roles. To determine the psychometric characteristics of the scales, 367 persons were tested, including police, senior citizens, business undergraduates, and psychology undergraduates. Reliability estimates for domain and total scores ranged from .81 to .97. Correlations between social desirability and SRES scores ranged from –.03 to +.18. Preliminary evidence of validity was derived from the confirmation of two a priori hypotheses: (a) Women scored more egalitarian than men, and psychology students scored more egalitarian than business students; (b) Both student groups scored more egalitarian than senior citizens and police.This research was supported by a Faculty Research and Creative Endeavors Grant from Central Michigan University. A portion of this paper was presented at the meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Detroit, April 1981. The authors wish to thank Ann Carey, Tom Blair, and Larry Dennis for their computer assistance.Copies of the Sex-Role Egalitarianism Scale may be obtained from Carole A. Beere, Department of Psychology, Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, Michigan 48859.     

ACCURACY AND DISTORTION IN MEMORY FOR HIGH SCHOOL GRADES

Abstract— The relation between accuracy and distortion of autobiographical memory content was examined by verifying 3,220 high school grades recalled by 99 college students. Accuracy of recall declined monotonically with letter grade, from 89% for grades of A to 29% for grades of D. The positive correlation between achievement and accuracy of recall is attributed to more frequent rehearsals of affectively positive content and to greater accuracy of reconstructive inferences based on homogeneous, generic memories. Most errors inflated the verified grade, and the degree of asymmetry of the error distribution is used as an index of the degree of distortion. Distortions are attributed to reconstructions in a positive, emotionally gratifying direction. Contrary to expectation, the percentage of accurate recall and the degree of asymmetry of the error distribution were uncorrelated. This finding indicates that the process of distortion does not cause forgetting of the veridical content Rather, distortion reflects bias in reconstructive inferences that occur after the veridical content has been forgotten for other reasons     

Women’s Decision Making about Risk-Reducing Strategies in the Context of Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer: A Systematic Review

Women who have a mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes have up to an 87% lifetime risk of breast cancer and up to a 40% lifetime risk of ovarian cancer. Cancer prevention and early detection strategies are often considered by these women to address this heightened risk. Risk-reducing strategies include risk-reducing mastectomy and oophorectomy, breast and ovarian cancer screening, and chemoprevention. This systematic literature review summarizes the factors and contexts that influence decision making related to cancer risk-reducing strategies among women at high-risk for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. In the 43 published research articles reviewed, three main types of factors are identified that influence high-risk women’s decisions about risk-reducing strategies: a) medical and physical factors, b) psychological factors and c) social context factors. How these factors operate in women’s lives over time remains unknown, and would best be elucidated through prospective, longitudinal research, as well as qualitative research.     

The Problems with Forbidding Science

Scientific research is subject to a number of regulations which impose incidental (time, place), rather than substantive (type of research), restrictions on scientific research and the knowledge created through such research. In recent years, however, the premise that scientific research and knowledge should be free from substantive regulation has increasingly been called into question. Some have suggested that the law should be used as a tool to substantively restrict research which is dual-use in nature or which raises moral objections. There are, however, some problems with using law to restrict or prohibit certain types of scientific research, including (i) the inherent imprecision of law for regulating complex and rapidly evolving scientific research; (ii) the difficulties of enforcing legal restrictions on an activity that is international in scope; (iii) the limited predictability of the consequences of restricting specific branches of scientific research; (iv) inertia in the legislative process; and (v) the susceptibility of legislators and regulators to inappropriate factors and influence. Rather than using law to restrict scientific research, it may be more appropriate and effective to use a combination of non-traditional legal tools including norms, codes of conduct, restrictions on publication, and scientist-developed voluntary standards to regulate problematic scientific research.     

Randomized controlled evaluation of an early intervention to prevent post-rape psychopathology

A randomized between-group design was used to evaluate the efficacy of a video intervention to reduce post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health problems, implemented prior to the forensic medical examination conducted within 72 h post-sexual assault. Participants were 140 female victims of sexual assault (68 video/72 nonvideo) aged 15 years or older. Assessments were targeted for 6 weeks (Time 1) and 6 months (Time 2) post-assault. At Time 1, the intervention was associated with lower scores on measures of PTSD and depression among women with a prior rape history relative to scores among women with a prior rape history in the standard care condition. At Time 2, depression scores were also lower among those with a prior rape history who were in the video relative to the standard care condition. Small effects indicating higher PTSD and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) scores among women without a prior rape history in the video condition were observed at Time 1. Accelerated longitudinal growth curve analysis indicated a videoxprior rape history interaction for PTSD, yielding four patterns of symptom trajectory over time. Women with a prior rape history in the video condition generally maintained the lowest level of symptoms.