Sex-roles of ideal opposite sexed persons for college males and females

Relationships between sex-roles as measured by the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) and the ideal sex-role of persons of the opposite sex as measured by a modified BSRI were investigated for 169 college males and 204 college females. The distributions of sex-roles were different for men and women, as were the distributions of ideal sex-roles of opposite sexed persons. Androgynous (A), feminine (F) and masculine (M) men identified F women as ideal, while undifferentiated (U) men identified U women as ideal. M women preferred M men, and U women preferred U men. Effects of ideal sex-role of the two sexes on sexual attraction were discussed.