evaluations of androgyny

Question 1

evaluations of androgyny 4

Answer 1

• it is scientific
• has historical bias
• oversimplifies gender identity
• has an association between androgyny and psychological wellbeing

Question 2

it is scientific

Answer 2

• it is a questionnaire which was developed by asking 50 males and 50 females to rate 200 traits of how desirable they were for men and women
• traits with the highest scores became the 20 traits in each category
• got piloted on 1000 students and results corresponded with participants description of themselves
• shows it has internal validity=measured what it intended to
• shows its reliable as it was replicable on a large scale of people
• furthermore on the test re-test a few months after results were similar
• however it has problems because it is a questionnaire
• people aware it is about androgyny so may change answers to fit what they think the researcher wants ( demand characteristics)
• social desirability can occur ( do whats acceptable )
• participants could also get confused with words and would be unable to ask for definition
  LIMITATION
  has scientific credibility to an extent

Question 3

has historical bias

Answer 3

• was developed 40 years ago with typical and acceptable stereotypical ideas in that time
• this has now been outdated as society is more equal
  -now a blurred distinction between what is considered masculine or feminine traits
  -EX oxford dictionary has added words such as metrosexual (man who is preoccupied in grooming and his appearance) and ladette ( a woman who behaves bpisterous and engages in heavy drinking)
  -shows a interactionist approach is needed to assess androgyny
• demonstrates alpha gender bias as it exaggerates the differences between genders
• also shows it lacks temporal validity as it cant be applied to all situations across time
  LIMITATION
  no longer a valid measure of androgyny

Question 4

oversimplifies gender identity

Answer 4

• seen to be more complex than the model suggests
  -BSRI ignores factors such as emotion and the experience of gender identity that can make up a persons gender identity and instead quantifies it into a numerical figure
• example of reductionism
• suggests a holistic approach may be needed to capture the experience of the whole person
• demonstrates a nomothetic approach because the model produces quantitative data
• suggests an ideographic approach may be needed to gather qualitative data on the whole person rather than just the concept (holism)
  LIMITATION
  ignores human factors of concepts

Question 5

has an association between androgyny and psychological wellbeing

Answer 5

-bem suggests androgyny is best for psychological wellbeing because they can best adapt to any situation
- means they can deal with the situations that demand either masculine, feminine or androgynous responses
- however some researchers suggest that people with a high proportion of masculine traits are better adapted because western societies are based on masculine traits ( independence) which gives them better psychological wellbeing
- demonstrates beta cultural bias taking place because androgyny was seen best for all cultures as it was created as universal
- but it may only apply to some cultures
LIMITATION
the association between the 2 co-variables may not be strong enough to be representative of the whole population