Relation of agency and communion to well-being: Evidence and potential explanations.

There are pervasive sex differences in psychological and physical well-being, many of which can be linked to the differential socialization of men and women. Numerous studies have linked psychological masculinity and femininity to well-being. In the present article, this literature is explained by focusing on the specific personality traits captured by conventional measures of masculinity and femininity: agency (focus on self and forming separations) and communion (focus on others and forming connections), respectively. Both agency and communion are required for optimal well-being (D. Bakan, 1966); when one exists in the absence of the other (unmitigated communion or unmitigated agency), however, negative health outcomes occur. Research that is consistent with this idea is presented, and the processes by which unmitigated agency and unmitigated communion affect well-being are explored. These processes involve control, social support, and health behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between androgyny and subjective indicators of emotional well-being.

176 college students were used to evaluate (a) the construct validity of the revised Short Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) with respect to measures of psychological well-being; (b) the validity of the concept of androgyny conceived as an intrinsically interactive concept, endowed as such with "surplus" meaning; and (c) the validity of the traditional assumption that it is the masculine male and feminine female who typify subjective well-being. Three hypotheses were tested concurrently by employing a hierarchical multiple regression analysis with interaction terms. Results across measures of well-being, stress reaction, and alienation taken from the Differential Personality Questionnaire, provide only partial support for S. L. Bem's (1974, 1979) scales as markers of subjective well-being, but no support for androgyny as a concept in its own right with predictive properties distinct from femininity and masculinity. The results of a factor analysis indicate that the Masculinity and Femininity scales of the BSRI occupy quite different locations in the space definied by certain higher-order personality dimensions. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comment on Lubinski, Tellegen, and Butcher's "Masculinity, femininity, and androgyny viewed and assessed as distinct concepts."

Comments on the D. Lubinski et al (see record 1983-24773-001) study showing the relations between the short Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI), Personality Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ), and the Differential Personality Questionnaire. An alternate interpretation of their results is that the PAQ and the BSRI measure only 2 clusters of traits that can be labeled dominance and nurturance/warmth, so the data cannot be legitimately generalized to "masculinity" and "femininity." It is also countered that androgyny can be defined in ways other than as an intrinsically interactive concept. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Agency, communion, and well-being: Extending Helgeson's (1994) model.

V. S. Helgeson (1994) offered a promising model to explain sex differences in well-being. Three meta-analyses of gender research relevant to this model are provided along with an empirical investigation of the relations between agency and communion, unmitigated agency and unmitigated communion, and self- and peer reports of well-being and distress in a sample of 201 college students. The results extended Helgeson's model by showing that agency and communion can be assessed at the level of interests and role behaviors and that the association of agentic traits with well-being may be inflated by self-reports. Results also point to problems in distinguishing trait measures of agency from unmitigated communion and communion from unmitigated agency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological androgyny: Theories, methods, and conclusions.

Methodological and conceptual problems in existing psychological androgyny research are illuminated by application of the 2-way ANOVA model, which views masculinity and femininity as a pair of crossed independent variables, with androgynous, male-typed, female-typed, and undifferentiated sex-role categories represented in the cells of the resultant 2-by-2 table. Foremost among previously overlooked theoretical points is that the J. T. Spence et al (see record 1975-27536-001) "high/high" and the S. L. Bem (see record 1974-27631-001) "balance" androgyny formulations represent 2 independent hypotheses, a main effects hypothesis and an interaction hypothesis. Androgyny research findings are summarized in terms of the effects and interaction predicted by these theories. There is no evidence of consistent interaction effects favoring the balanced over the sex typed. Furthermore, the consistency and strength of the masculinity effect relative to the femininity effect suggest that masculinity rather than main effects androgyny predicts psychological well-being. The data provide no support for the traditional model that masculinity is best for men and femininity best for women. (107 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maculinity, femininity, Type A behavior, and psychosocial adjustment in medical students.

80 male and 35 female freshmen medical students (mean age 23.6 yrs) completed measures of masculinity and femininity; Type A (coronary prone) behavior; and psychological well-being, adjustment, and interpersonal satisfaction to investigate the relationship between these variables in Ss. Appropriate statistical treatment of the data revealed strong and consistent masculinity effects on neuroticism, depression, self-esteem, confidence, hedonic capacity, locus of control, and relationship satisfaction. Femininity main effects varied in number as a function of the statistical method employed and involved a more diverse group of variables than is typically reported. Additive androgyny formulations of mental health were supported; balance androgyny formulations were not. No evidence for a Type A?×?masculinity effect on adjustment was found. Discussion focuses on the correct interpretation of masculinity and femininity scales, comparability of ANOVA and multiple regression statistical analyses, and the viability of the concept of androgyny. (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multivariate analysis of new sex role formulations and personality.

Investigated the relationship of new sex role formulations, specifically S. L. Bem's (1974, 1975, 1976) concept of psychological androgyny and the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI), to personality dimensions. 138 male and 136 female college students filled out the BSRI and the 16 PF. Regression analysis suggested that the BSRI Masculine scale was convergent with personality dimensions characterized as masculine. Results for the BSRI Feminine scale were equivocal. Discriminant analysis suggested that androgynous and masculine-typed Ss shared similar personality dimensions in opposition to feminine and undifferentiated Ss. These results did not fully support Bem's hypothesis of sex roles; however, evidence emerged indicating that masculinity and femininity, as traits, may be qualitatively different phenomena. The implications for trait behavioral measurement are discussed. All results were cross-validated with a 2nd sample of 88 males and 93 females. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Beyond face validity: A comment on Nicholls, Licht, and Pearl.

Comments on the J. G. Nicholls et al (see record 1983-04770-001) discussion of the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ). Nicholls et al blur 2 issues: The 1st concerns the legitimacy of equating the clusters of gender-related personality traits tapped by these instruments with the global constructs of masculinity and femininity. The 2nd concerns item similarity between scales of PAQ and BSRI and measures of self-esteem. Decisions about these issues involve complex considerations that do not directly involve face validity. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The many faces of androgyny: A reply to Locksley and Colten.

In their critique of the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) and Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ), A. Locksley and M. Colten (see record 1980-30293-001) assume that a singular androgyny theory exists to which the rationale and the psychometric properties of these instruments are tied and that each is intended to be a broad-gauged measure of masculinity and femininity or of global self-images of these concepts. The present authors, however, conceive of the PAQ as a specialized measure of socially desirable instrumental and expressive characteristics, objectively defined trait dimensions that distinguish between the sexes to some degree and thus may be labeled "masculine" and "feminine." (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender-linked personality traits predict mental health and functional status following a first coronary event.

Three gender-linked traits were examined with respect to adjustment to a coronary event: agency, a focus on the self, communion, a focus on others; and unmitigated communion, an extreme focus on others to the exclusion of the self. Participants (n ?=?65) were interviewed 1 week and 4 months after a 1st coronary event. Hypotheses were that agency should predict improved health, communion should be unrelated to health, and unmitigated communion should predict worse health over time. Outcomes included depression, anxiety, and well-being (as measured by the Profile of Mood States; D. McNair, M. Lorr, & L. Droppleman, 1971); mental and physical functioning (SF-36; J. E. Ware, K. K. Snow, M. Kosinski, & B. Gandek, 1993); and cardiac symptoms. Results confirmed hypotheses. In addition, unmitigated communion was linked with poor health behavior and negative social interactions, which partly explained the link of unmitigated communion with depression and cardiac symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Are leader stereotypes masculine? A meta-analysis of three research paradigms.

This meta-analysis examined the extent to which stereotypes of leaders are culturally masculine. The primary studies fit into 1 of 3 paradigms: (a) In Schein's (1973) think manager–think male paradigm, 40 studies with 51 effect sizes compared the similarity of male and leader stereotypes and the similarity of female and leader stereotypes; (b) in Powell and Butterfield's (1979) agency–communion paradigm, 22 studies with 47 effect sizes compared stereotypes of leaders' agency and communion; and (c) in Shinar's (1975) masculinity–femininity paradigm, 7 studies with 101 effect sizes represented stereotypes of leadership-related occupations on a single masculinity–femininity dimension. Analyses implemented appropriate random and mixed effects models. All 3 paradigms demonstrated overall masculinity of leader stereotypes: (a) In the think manager–think male paradigm, intraclass correlation = .25 for the women–leaders similarity and intraclass correlation = .62 for the men–leaders similarity; (b) in the agency–communion paradigm, g = 1.55, indicating greater agency than communion; and (c) in the masculinity–femininity paradigm, g = 0.92, indicating greater masculinity than the androgynous scale midpoint. Subgroup and meta-regression analyses indicated that this masculine construal of leadership has decreased over time and was greater for male than female research participants. In addition, stereotypes portrayed leaders as less masculine in educational organizations than in other domains and in moderate- than in high-status leader roles. This article considers the relation of these findings to Eagly and Karau's (2002) role congruity theory, which proposed contextual influences on the incongruity between stereotypes of women and leaders. The implications for prejudice against women leaders are also considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender diagnosticity: A new Bayesian approach to gender-related individual differences.

Gender diagnosticity refers to the Bayesian probability that an individual is predicted to be male or female on the basis of some set of gender-related diagnostic indicators. Gender diagnostic probabilities were compared from occupational preference ratings made by 117 male and 110 female Ss. Ss also completed the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ) and the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) and were assessed on a number of gender-related criterion variables. Gender diagnostic probabilities proved to be factorially distinct from PAQ and BSRI masculinity and femininity and generally displayed greater predictive utility than did masculinity and femininity. Unlike existing scales, gender diagnosticity measures are not based on gender stereotypes, and they do not reify gender-related individual differences or freeze them into specific constructs such as instrumental or expressive traits. Furthermore, they are well suited to developmental and cross-cultural research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Androgyny versus gender schema: A comment on Bem's gender schema theory.

S. L. Bem (see PA, Vol 66:00000) proposes that the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) measures individual differences in a unidimensional construct in addition to 2 independent dimensions, global self-concepts of masculinity and femininity. Evidence suggests that the BSRI measures primarily self-images of instrumental and expressive personality traits and that these trait clusters show little or no relationship to global self-images of masculinity and femininity or to unidimensional constructs such as the tendency to utilize gender schemata. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex roles and psychological well-being: Perspectives on methodology.

Discusses some sources of problematic methodology in recent research designed to relate current measures of sex-role orientation to indices of psychological well-being. Practices and procedures in sex-role research are examined in relation to orthogonal scales of sex-role orientation that provide independent measures of masculinity, femininity, and a newer assessment of androgyny. Directions for increased conceptual and methodological clarity include theoretical and psychometric definitions of androgyny, the relationship of sex-role typing to other aspects of interpersonal functioning, and varying procedures in sex-role and gender distinction, population sampling, and construct validation. Issues are raised concerning the generality of sex-role measures and the desirability of direct behavioral validation criteria. (38 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)     

Primate diversity, habitat preferences, and population density estimates in Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, Santa Cruz Department, Bolivia

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to test the hypothesis that different types of gender-related personality attributes are associated with a past history of different types of childhood maltreatment. METHOD: A survey was administered to 1,060 male soldiers and 305 female soldiers in the U.S. Army. The survey instrument included the Extended Personal Attributes Questionnaire (EPAQ) which is a self-assessment instrument of personality characteristics associated with gender, and includes measures of positive masculinity (self-assertive/instrumental traits), positive femininity (expressive/interpersonal traits), negative masculinity (hyper masculine/macho traits), and negative femininity (subordination of self to others). The survey instrument also included the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), which contains scales measuring sexual abuse, physical-emotional abuse, physical neglect, and emotional neglect, and four questions on childhood sexual abuse developed for a national survey of U.S. adults. RESULTS: Negative masculinity was predicted by male gender, younger age, and childhood physical-emotional abuse. Negative femininity was predicted by physical-emotional abuse and sexual abuse. The relationship to sexual abuse was mainly evident for males. Positive femininity was positively correlated with sexual abuse for females and negatively correlated with sexual abuse for males. Positive masculinity was negatively correlated with emotional neglect for males but not for females. Positive femininity was negatively correlated with emotional neglect for both genders. CONCLUSIONS: Childhood abuse was associated with the presence of negative gender-related attributes; childhood neglect was associated with absence of positive gender-related attributes. Childhood physical abuse was associated with negative masculine attributes in both genders. Childhood sexual abuse was associated with positive feminine attributes in females, and negative feminine attributes in males. The finding for females is counterintuitive, and is discussed in the light of the clinical literature on certain types of adaptation to incest.     

Factor analysis of the Bem Sex-Role Inventory.

Factor-analyzed the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI), which conceptualizes masculinity and femininity as 2 independent dimensions rather than using the traditional notion of a single bipolar dimension. BSRI scores from 253 male and female industrial workers, 36 police officers, and 36 nonworking housewives were analyzed. 4 factors were defined: Masculinity, Femininity, Sex of S, and "Mature" Neutral. Since a few "masculine" and "feminine" items from the original version of the BSRI did not load on either factor, a revision of the scale to exclude these items is recommended. However, the results support the contention that masculinity and femininity are more reasonably considered as independent traits rather than as a single bipolar dimension. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex roles and social support as moderators of life stress adjustment.

In this study we used a longitudinal design to test the stress-buffering effects of sex role orientation in combination with perceived social support on measure of trait anxiety and depression. College undergraduates served as subjects. The cross-sectional analysis provided strong support for the hypothesis that masculinity would function as a life stress buffer. The hypothesis that social support would serve as a stress buffer when coupled with high masculinity was supported by one of the cross-sectional analyses as well as the longitudinal analysis. This pattern was found primarily for perceptions of tangible social support. The longitudinal analysis also revealed a significant interaction involving negative life events and masculinity and femininity. This interaction effect provided unexpected support for a balance model of androgyny, in that non-sex-typed subjects showed greater resilience to recent life stress than did sex-typed subjects. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the study of life stress adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)