Androgyny

Question 1

what is the definition of androgyny?

Answer 1

displaying a balance of masculine and feminine characteristics in one’s personality

Question 2

who developed a method for measuring androgyny?

Answer 2

Bem

Question 3

what did Bem suggest about people with high androgyny?

Answer 3

that high androgyny is associated with psychological well-being

Question 4

why is high androgyny associated with better psychological well-being?

Answer 4

better equipped to adapt whereas non-androgynous people would find this difficult

Question 5

why would non-adrogynous people find adapting to situations difficult?

Answer 5

They have narrower traits

Question 6

does an over representation of opposite sex characteristics qualify as androgyny?

Answer 6

No

Question 7

how many characteristics did Bem’s scale present?

Answer 7

20 masculine, 20 feminine and 20 neutral

Question 8

how did respondents answer this questionnare?

Answer 8

rating themselves on a 7 point rating scale where 1 is never true and 7 is always true of me

Question 9

Score:
1. high masculine, low feminine
2. high feminine, low masculine
3. high masculine, high feminine
4. low feminine, low masculine

Answer 9

classification:
1. masculine
2. feminine
3. androgynous
4. undifferentiated

Question 10

gender identity is measured quantitatively

Answer 10

• useful for research purposes when necessary e.g. quantifying a dependant variable
• Spence argued there is more to gender identity than a set of behaviours typical of one gender so qualitative methods offer a better analysis
• both quantitative and qualitative approaches may be useful in studying different aspects of gender identity.

Question 11

appeared to be a valid and reliable way of measuring androgyny

Answer 11

• developed by asking 50 males and 50 females to judge 200 traits on whether they represented ‘maleness’ and ‘femaleness’
• BSRI was piloted and the results broadly corresponded with ppts own description demonstrating validity

Question 12

people may not have insight into their gender identity

Answer 12

• asking people to rate themselves relies on people understanding their personality
• questionnaires scoring system is subjective - BSRI may not be objective or a scientific way of assessing gender identity

Question 13

Temporal validity

Answer 13

• made in the 1970s means people may not define such characteristics as specifically male or female anymore