Androgyny and the BSRI Flashcards
What is androgyny?
A personality type that is characterised by a balance of masculine and feminine traits, attitudes or behaviours.
What is Sandra Bem’s BSRI?
The Bem Sex Role Inventory presents 60 characteristics that would be commonly judged as masculine, feminine or neutral. Respondents rate themselves on a 7 point scale where 1 is never true and 7 is always true. Scores are then classified on the basis of two dimensions - masculinity-femininity and androgynous-undifferentiated.
What is the classification of high masculine and low feminine?
Masculine
What is the classification of high feminine and low masculine?
Feminine
What is the classification of high masculine and high feminine?
Androgynous
What is the classification of low masculine and low feminine?
Undifferentiated
What is the strength - face validity?
It was developed by asking 50 male and 50 female judges to rate 200 traits in terms of how desirable they are for men or women. The traits that were the highest scorers in each category became the 20 masculine and 20 feminine traits on the scale. The BSRI was then piloted with over 1000 students and the results correspond with their self-judged gender identity.
What is the limitation - association between androgyny and psychological well-being?
Bem placed great emphasis on the idea that androgynous individuals are more psychologically healthy as they are best placed to deal with situations that demand a masculine or feminine response. This has since been challenged since some researchers suggest that people who display more masculine traits are better adjusted as those traits are higher valued in Western society.
What is the limitation - oversimplifies a simple concept?
Alternatives have been developed such as the Personal Attribute Questionnaire which replaces Bem’s masculinity-femininity dimension with instrumentality and expressivity. In order to represent gender identity more fully, broader issues should be considered such as interests and self-perception.
