An investigation of the relationship between psychological androgyny and components of self-concept.

357 college students participated in a study designed to investigate whether the higher levels of self-esteem and self-concept of androgynous individuals are due to an integration of both masculine and feminine traits or due only to a high level of masculinity. Ss completed the Bem Sex-Role Inventory and a semantic differential scale previously shown to assess 4 dimensions of the self-concept. The androgynous group scored higher than the undifferentiated group on adjustment to the environment. The androgynous and masculine groups scored higher than the feminine and undifferentiated groups on achievement/leadership, which tends to reflect an instrumental role. Androgynous and feminine Ss scored higher than masculine and undifferentiated Ss on congeniality/sociability, which reflects an expressive role. The masculine and feminine groups scored at appropriate ends of the masculinity/femininity self-concept dimension, with the androgynous and undifferentiated groups at intermediate levels. These results support S. L. Bem's (1975, 1977) theory of androgynous flexibility. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex role identity, peer evaluation of competition, and the responses of women and men in a competitive situation.

A 2 (male vs female)?×?2 (peer approval vs disapproval of competition)?×?4 (sex-role identity: masculine, feminine, androgynous, undifferentiated) design was used with 78 female and 67 male students who were randomly assigned to approval/disapproval conditions. Sex-role identity was measured using the Personal Attributes Questionnaire. Results reveal effects of sex-role identity and interactions of sex and peer evaluation of competition on performance and related variables. Masculine and androgynous groups had higher expectancies for performance than feminine groups, better objective performance, and greater perceived success than feminine or undifferentiated Ss of either sex. Men and women in the masculine and androgynous groups did not differ from each other in performance, affect, or cognitions. The interactions of sex and peer evaluation of competition revealed that women responded more positively on all measures to approval than disapproval, whereas men's responses were largely unaffected. (42 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A different perspective on androgyny: Evaluations of masculine and feminine personality characteristics.

Hypothesized that androgynous Ss would be liked best and perceived as most adjusted (Exp I) and also be perceived to be as instrumental as masculine Ss and as expressive as feminine Ss (Exp II). 179 undergraduates served as Ss in Exp I and 160 undergraduates served in Exp II. Personal Attributes Questionnaires ostensibly filled out by others were the stimuli evaluated. These stimuli were constructed so that the stimulus persons (SPs) were classified as either androgynous, undifferentiated, masculine, or feminine. Male and female Ss evaluated the SPs on dimensions of likeability, adjustment, expressiveness, instrumentality, masculinity, and femininity. Results demonstrate that androgynous persons, regardless of gender, were liked best and perceived as most adjusted, whereas undifferentiated persons were liked least and perceived as least adjusted. Masculine and feminine persons, regardless of gender, were rated midway between androgynous and undifferentiated persons and generally were not evaluated differently on these dimensions. Evaluations of SPs on stereotypically gender-related dimensions revealed that androgynous persons were seen to be as highly instrumental as masculine persons and as highly expressive as feminine persons, but generally less masculine and feminine than sex-typed persons. Implications for self-fulfilling prophecies in social behavior are discussed. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Love and sex role stereotypes: Do macho men and feminine women make better lovers?

Examined the relation of sex and sex-role orientation to self-reported feelings and behaviors of love. It was hypothesized that (a) sex role would have a greater effect on love feelings and behaviors than sex, and (b) androgynous individuals would experience love differently than sex-typed individuals. Data were gathered from 100 male and 136 female college students who identified themselves as being in a love relationship. Ss completed a battery of questionnaires, including the Bem Sex-Role Inventory. Both hypotheses were supported. There were no sex differences in self-reported love. Androgynous Ss differed from masculine Ss on awareness of love feelings, expression of love, nonmaterial evidence of love, toleration of the loved one's faults, and the total expression of love in their relationship. The androgynous Ss differed from feminine Ss on awareness, willingness to express feelings, and toleration of faults. In all comparisons, androgynous Ss were more loving than sex-typed and undifferentiated Ss. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Early development of relationship quality in heterosexual married, heterosexual cohabiting, gay, and lesbian couples.

33 heterosexual married, 34 heterosexual cohabiting, 41 gay, and 47 lesbian monogamous couples who were living together and did not have children living with them completed a demographic questionnaire, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, and a relationship beliefs inventory. Comparisons were made among the 4 types of couples at 3 stages of relationship development—blending (Year 1), nesting (Years 2 and 3), and maintaining (Years 4 and 5)—on 5 dimensions of relationship quality: agreement, satisfaction with affection and sex, low tension, shared activity, and beliefs regarding sexual perfection. Findings show that the type of couple did not interact with stage of relationship. Married couples reported less tension than heterosexual cohabitating couples, and a curvilinear relation was found between stage of relationship development and satisfaction with affection and sex, shared activity, and beliefs regarding sexual perfection. The absolute difference between partners' scores varied only by stage of relationship. Blending partners' shared-activity scores were more similar than those of either nesting or maintaining partners. Results suggest that stage of relationship is a robust predictor of relationship quality. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-schemas and gender.

Examined the information processing consequences of self-schemas about gender in 2 studies (467 undergraduates). Systematic differences in cognitive performance were observed among Ss identified as masculine schematics, feminine schematics, low androgynous, and high androgynous (Bem Sex-Role Inventory). Feminine schematics remembered more feminine than masculine attributes, endorsed more feminine qualities, required shorter processing times for "me" judgments to these attributes, were more confident of their judgments, and were able to supply relatively more examples of past feminine than masculine behavior. A parallel pattern of results was found for masculine stimuli in masculine schematics. Androgynous Ss recalled as many masculine as feminine attributes and did not differentiate between masculine and feminine attributes with respect to latency or confidence. Comparison of the 2 groups of androgynous Ss shows that only low androgynous Ss should be considered aschematic with respect to gender. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Creativity, masculinity, femininity, and three models of psychological androgyny.

Five empirically derived indices of creative self-concept correlated positively with several indices of psychological masculinity in 85 female and 105 male undergraduates and somewhat negatively with indices of psychological femininity among males and females. Among the measures used were the Bem Sex-Role Inventory and Adjective Check List. Production on the Alternate Uses Test correlated positively with masculinity and negatively with femininity in a subset of 50 males explicitly instructed to "be creative." As a reflection of this positive association between masculinity and creativity indices, Ss defined as masculine or androgynous, using conventional median-split methods, obtained significantly higher creativity indices than conventionally defined feminine or unclassifiable Ss. Results are discussed in terms of (a) the applicability of balance, additive, and multiplicative models of androgyny to the study of creativity; (b) the factorial complexity of several currently used masculinity and femininity scales; and (c) possible conflicts between sex-role expectations and the self-concepts of creative females and apparent congruencies between sex-role expectations and the self-concepts of creative males. (85 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex role typing and ego identity in Israeli, Oriental, and Western adolescents.

1,129 Oriental and Western Israeli students from religious and secular high schools participated in a study to investigate (a) the relation between sex-role typing and ego identity, (b) the distribution of sex-role typing within different cultural groups, and (c) the relative contribution of masculinity (M), femininity (F), religiousness, sex, and ethnic origin to prediction of ego identity variables. Ss completed the Bar-Ilan Sex Role Inventory and the Adolescent Ego Identity Scale, which measures 3 factors: commitment and purposefulness, solidity and continuity, and social recognition. More androgynous, less sex-typed, and less undifferentiated Ss were found among Orientals than among Westerners. Sex-role type was significantly related to each of the ego identity variables, indicating that androgynous Ss were highest followed by masculine, feminine, and undifferentiated Ss. Boys were higher than girls on Solidity and Continuity, but lower on Social Recognition. Westerners were higher than Orientals on Commitment and Purposefulness and on Total Ego Identity. Religious Ss were higher than secular Ss on Commitment and Purposefulness. Regression analyses revealed high prediction of ego identity variables with greater prediction power for M than for F in both ethnic groups. Ego identity was predicted by M among boys, whereas both M and F predicted ego identity with greater prediction power for M than for F. (61 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex role orientation and resolution of Eriksonian crises during the late adolescent years.

Administered the Bem Sex-Role Inventory and the Industry Inferiority and Identity vs Identity Diffusion scales from the Inventory of Psychosocial Development (IPD) to 182 male and 222 female undergraduates. Results indicate that the androgynous Ss had the highest difference scores on the IPD scales, with masculine, feminine, and undifferentiated Ss having progressively lower mean scores. Androgynous, masculine, and feminine Ss had equivalently low scores on the scales measuring unsuccessful resolution, with the undifferentiated Ss obtaining the highest scores on these scales. It is suggested that the androgynous and sex-typed Ss view themselves as varying along a dimension of successful resolution. These groups did not vary on measures of unsuccessful resolution. The undifferentiated Ss saw themselves not only as less successful in resolving the crises but also as more unsuccessful. Further analyses revealed that the masculine component of the sex role was the more important for predicting better resolution of the 2 crises. The importance of employing multiple measures of adjustment, the importance of theory-guided research, and the consideration of the relative contributions of masculinity and femininity to adjustment are discussed. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex role discrimination among girls: Effect on IT Scale for Children scores.

Investigated the ability of 40 girls (mean age 4 yrs 4 mo) to make discriminations of sex-typed depictions on the IT Scale for Children under various instructions. Ss had masculine scores when exposed to the standard administration and when the stimulus figure was identified as a boy. They had more feminine scores when the figure was identified as a girl and under a concealed-IT condition. Ss also perceived both the stimulus figure and the name "IT" as masculine. Consequently the results of the present study provide an additional challenge to the adequacy of the IT Scale for Children as a measure of girls' sex-role preferences. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex role identification and the clinical psychology student.

22 female (mean age 31.8 yrs) and 16 male (mean age 27.5 yrs) practicum students in clinical psychology completed the Bem Sex-Role Inventory and a questionnaire assessing their attitudes toward clinical work. Females were more likely than males to work predominantly with children. Masculine and undifferentiated Ss attributed the source of their theoretical orientation to their clinical work, whereas feminine and androgynous Ss considered their own personal treatment as important a source of influence as clinical work. Masculine Ss viewed hearing about important changes in patients' lives as more gratifying than direct observation of change, while other Ss viewed the direct observation of change as most gratifying. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The nonverbal display of psychological androgyny.

Attempted to determine how individual differences in sex-role orientation, as assessed by the Bem Sex-Role Inventory, were related to undergraduates' display of nonverbal behaviors indicative of "masculinity" and "femininity." Smiling, gazing (feminine behaviors), interrupting, and filled pausing (masculine behaviors) were coded for sex-typed males and females and androgynous males and females assigned to either an instrumental situation or an expressive situation in 36 same-sex dyads. Analyses of nonverbal behavior showed that androgynous Ss showed a blend of both masculine and feminine behaviors. The blend was the product of the addition of cross-sex behavior and deletion of some sex-consonant behavior. In contrast, sex-typed Ss showed more cross-sex behavioral avoidance and more sex-consonant behavioral cohesion. Results are discussed in terms of S. L. Bem's (1974, 1975) and J. T. Spence and R. L. Helmreich's (1977) conceptions of masculinity and femininity. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Graduate student couples: Dyadic satisfaction in relation to type of partnership and demographic characteristics.

71 married and cohabiting graduate student couples (aged 21–61 yrs) responded individually to questionnaires that queried Ss on demographic characteristics, dyadic satisfaction (DS), and dyadic trust (DT). There were 26 symmetrical couples in which both partners were students and 45 asymmetrical couples in which only 1 partner was a student. No significant results were found for married couples with respect to symmetry on overall relationship satisfaction. Married partners, however, did show significantly greater DT compared with cohabiting couples. The finding that higher income men enjoy greater DS than lower income men suggests that financial security is an important factor for men to experience happiness in their intimate relationships. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex role complementarity versus similarity in married couples.

Surveyed 108 Australian married couples about the effect of sex roles on their marital happiness. Questionnaires included the Bem Sex-Role Inventory and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Measures of the sex-role orientation and happiness of each partner with the relationship permitted an evaluation of the similarity and complementarity hypotheses as well as an assessment of the general compatibility of sex-role combinations. Results provide substantial evidence for the importance of femininity in relationships; the happiness of the husband was positively related to the wife's femininity, and the happiness of the wife was positively related to the husband's femininity. Couples in which both partners were high on femininity (androgynous and feminine) were far happier than were couples in which at least one of the partners was low on this dimension. Although similarity of both masculinity and femininity between partners was associated with happiness, the complementarity hypothesis was convincingly refuted in terms of both happiness and choosing a partner. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parent behaviors related to masculine, feminine, and androgynous sex role orientations.

Administered the Berzins-Welling ANDRO scale, a measure of psychological androgyny, and the Parent Behavior Form in a counterbalanced design to 181 male and 300 female undergraduates. Ss of each gender were classified into 1 of 4 sex role categories: masculine typed, feminine typed, androgynous, or indeterminate. Parent scale differences indicate that reported parental affection principally differentiated male groups, whereas parental cognitive or achievement encouragement and permissiveness differentiated female sex role categories. Indeterminates consistently reported the least parental warmth and cognitive involvement, whereas androgynous Ss generally reported the highest. Results indicate that new conceptualizations of sex role orientations, which consider masculine and feminine characteristics to be independent, uncorrelated dimensions, are distinctively related to reported parent child-rearing practices. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relation between testosterone concentration, sex role identity, and personality among females.

84 female undergraduates completed measures of masculinity and femininity derived from the California Personality Inventory, the Bem Sex-Role Inventory, and the Adjective Check List. Testosterone (T) concentration was determined from saliva samples. Results indicate that sex-role type was related to level of T concentration. Undifferentiated Ss had much higher levels of T concentration than did feminine Ss, and androgynous and masculine Ss had somewhat higher T levels than did feminine sex-typed Ss. Adjectival correlates indicated that Ss with higher T concentrations perceived themselves as self-directed, action-oriented, and resourceful; those with lower T concentrations viewed themselves as conventional, socialized individuals, possessing a caring attitude coupled with an anxious and dejected mood. (50 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal phenomenology as a function of sexual orientation, sex, sentiment, and trait categories in long-term dyadic relationships.

Studied homo- and heterosexual relationships with the Extended Personal Attributes Questionnaire (EPAQ) as modified by the interpersonal perception method (IPM). Ss were 20 gay male, 20 lesbian, and 40 heterosexual couples. The F+ scale of the EPAQ accounted for greater congruence among IPM perspectives than any of the other EPAQ scales (M+, M–, F–). Positive EPAQ scales showed more consistency among inter- and intrapersonal perspectives than negative scales. Homosexual partners perceived themselves more similar to each other on the F+ scales than did heterosexual partners. Ss with female partners had higher expectations and greater accuracy in these expectations than those with male partners. Differences within the interpersonal phenomenology of heterosexual couples found in an earlier study by the 2nd author and W. J. Friedman (see record 1984-01263-001) were fully replicated. Treating the M and F scales of the EPAQ as instrumental and expressive traits rather than masculine and feminine sex roles, as suggested by J. T Spence and R. L. Helmreich (see record 1982-12888-001), clarifies the interpretation of these results. (75 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)