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.