androgyny and BSRI

Question 1

what is androgyny?

Answer 1

androgyny is defined as a personality type that consists of a high level of both traditionally male and female traits, attitudes and behaviours

Question 2

assumptions about androgyny

Answer 2

• those who have a good match between their personality characteristics and their biological gender are better adjusted and more psychologically stable than those who don’t

Question 3

Bem 1974

Answer 3

• scale to measure a person’s level of androgyny
• consists of 20 male characteristics and 20 characteristics associated with being female
• 20 neutral traits
• respondents rate themselves on a 7 point scale
• scores are then classified to: masculine, feminine, androgynous, undifferentiated

Question 4

Bem 1974 results

Answer 4

• 34% of males and 27% of females were classed as androgynous
• suggests that a sizeable proportion of both females and males are androgynous rather than wholly androgynous

Question 5

Flahery and Dusek 1980

Answer 5

• androgynous individuals have a higher degree of self-esteem, a better sense of emotional well being
• supporting the idea that androgyny is correlated with psychological wellbeing

Question 6

taylor 1982

Answer 6

• masculinity in both males and females = better predictor of psychological wellbeing than androgyny
• traditional male traits are beneficial to both sexes whereas traditional female traits do not give the same advantage