Androgyny and the BSRI Flashcards
Define Androgyny
Displaying a balance of masculine and feminine characteristics in ones personality.
To be androgynous is to…
have the appearance of someone who cannot be clearly identified as male or female.
Why is high androgyny associated with psychological well- being?
Because androgynous people are better equipped to adapt to a range of situations than non androgynous people.
Who can be androgynous?
Both males and females.
Is a very masculine female or a very feminine male androgyny?
No, because they don’t exhibit the necessary balance of male and female traits.
Define the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) -1974
The first systematic attempt to measure androgyny using a rating scale of 60 traits ( 20 male 20 female and 20 neutral) to produce scores across 2 dimensions: masculinity- femininity and androgynous-undifferentiated.
How does the BSRI work?
Respondents rate themselves on a 7-point scale for each item (1 is never true pf me and 7 is always true of me). Numerical scores for all masculine items are added up and same for all feminine items and person gives a score for masculinity, femininity and androgyny.
What are the masculine items?
Athletic, ambitious, aggressive, willing to take risks.
What are the feminine items?
Affectionate, gentle, warm, loves children.
What are the neutral items?
conscientious, friendly, reliable, truthful.
Strengths of the BSRI
reliability, practical application.
Reliability
high test retest reliability- consistent over time. A flow uo study using a smaller sample of the same students a month later found similar scores.
Practical application
If androgyny is better for physical and psychological health as BEM suggests, then parents could be encouraged to raise children free to assume characteristics of either gender. Doing this would require changes to how society views gender, but this could have huge social implications for reducing burden on the NHS.
Weaknesses of the BSRI
Temporal validity and Ethnocentric.
Temporal validity
The BSRI was developed over 40 years ago. It relies on stereotypical and outdated notions of masculinity and femininity e.g women should be gentle and child-like. Therefore the BSRI lacks temporal validity and is therefore no longer relevant.
