| Abstract: | ![]()
Research on the relation between sex-role orientation and psychological well-being has been guided by 1 of 3 models. The traditional congruence model holds that psychological well-being is fostered only when one's sex-role orientation is congruent with one's gender; the androgyny model proposes that well-being is maximized when one's sex-role orientation incorporates a high degree of both masculinity and femininity regardless of one's gender; the masculinity model posits that well-being is a function of the extent to which one has a masculine sex-role orientation. The adequacy of the models was tested by meta-analysis of 35 studies of the relation between sex-role orientation and self-esteem, the indicator of psychological well-being most widely used in sex-role studies. Results of the analysis are most supportive of the masculinity model and showed that the strength of observed relations between sex-role orientation and self-esteem varied as a function of both the sex-role measure and the type of self-esteem measure used in the studies. Methodological issues are identified that should be taken into consideration in future research. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
