Androgyny and the BSRI Flashcards
What is androgyny?
Displaying a balance of masculine and feminine characteristics in ones personality.
Example of an androgynous person?
Man or woman that is competitive or aggressive at work, but a sensitive and caring parent
What is a benefit of measuring high in androgyny?
Better equipped to adapt to a range of situations and contexts.
What was created to measure androgyny?
Bem sex role inventory
What is the cognitive explanation for androgyny?
Individual perceived the world without gender stereotypes.
What is the behavioural examination for androgyny?
Product of reinforcement- allows an individual to act in a masculine or feminine way depending on the situation.
What does the scale for BSRI present?
20 ‘masculine’, 20 ‘feminine’ and 20 ‘neutral’ traits/characteristics.
What was the rating scale like?
1-7
1=never true of me
7= always true of me
How were scores on the BSRI classified?
High masc, Low fem = Masc
High fem, Low masc = Fem
High mac, High fem = Androgynous
Low masc, Low fem = Undifferentiated
Two pieces of research to support androgyny?
Bem and Prakash et al.
What did Bem find in her study measuring androgyny?
BSRI was used to measure androgyny, found 34% of males and 27% females are androgynous, which suggests a sizeable minority of people are predominantly androgynous rather than masc or fem.
What did Prakash et al find in their test of masculinity and femininity?
Tested 100 married females in India on masc/ fem and a range of health outcome measures such as physical health, depression, anxiety, and perceived stress. They found a positive correlation between androgyny and psychological health - Androgyny seems to have a psychoprotective effect.
