Sex-role stereotypes and androgyny Flashcards
What is sex?
A person’s biological status as either male or female, including chromosomes, hormones and anatomy.
What is gender?
The psychological and cultural differences between males and females including attitudes, behaviours and social roles.
What is the distinct difference between sex and gender?
Sex is innate (the result of nature) and cannot be changed, whereas gender is an assigned social construct.
What are sex-role stereotypes?
A set of beliefs and preconceived ideas about what is expected or appropriate for men and women in a given society or social group.
How are sex-role stereotypes acquired?
Sex-role stereotypes are learned from birth as children are exposed to the attitudes of parents and others within society who go on to reinforce these expectations of masculine or feminine behaviour. It is argues that much of what is considered masculine and feminine is learned as a product of socialisation and the passing of beliefs attitudes and behaviours from one generation to another
What are the implications of holding sex-role stereotypes?
Leads to an overemphasis on the differences between genders, perpetuates inequality and inaccurate assumptions, and limits opportunities for boys and girls.
Describe a research study that shows evidence of sex-role stereotypes?
Seavey et al. (1975)
Adult participants asked to interact with a 3 year old participant for 3 minutes and dressed in a yellow jumpsuit. A range of toys were available including a ragdoll and plastic rings. The adults interactions were observed and recorded, including the toys they chose and the things they said.
When the baby was labelled as female, the participants were more likely to use the doll and when male, the rings were more likely to e used. In the non-labelled condition, almost all the participants spontaneously decided a sex for the baby using physical characteristics.
The participants interacted differently depending on whether they believed they were male or female. In the non-labelled condition, the female ptpts interacted significantly more than the male ptpts
What is androgyny?
Displaying a balance of masculine and feminine characteristics in one’s personality.
What is the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI)?
The first systematic attempt to measure androgyny using a rating scale to produce scores across two dimensions – masculine-feminine and androgynous-undifferentiated.
How was the BSRI developed?
100 American undergraduates were asked which personality traits they thought were desirable for men and women. The list was narrowed to include 20 masculine traits, 20 feminine traits and 20 neutral traits. Each person rates themselves on a 7-point Likert scale (ranging from never true of me to always true of me) and given score of masculinity, femininity, undifferentiated or androgynous.
What did the findings from the BSRI reveal?
Bem found 27% female and 34% male participants were androgynous. These individuals were found to be adaptable and have greater well being. Thus, she concluded high androgyny is associated with psychological wellbeing as individuals who are (psychologically) both masculine and feminine are better equipped to adapt to a range of situations.
2 Strengths of androgyny and the BSRI (1 counter)
Reliable measurement
The reliability of the Bem Sex Role Inventory has been consistently established. The scale was developed by asking 50 male and 50 female judges to rate 200 traits in terms of how much the traits represented ‘maleness’ and ‘femaleness’ – those that scored highest in each category became the 20 masculine and 20 feminine traits on the scale. The BSRI was then piloted with over 1,000 students and results broadly corresponded with the participants’ own description of their gender identity, establishing validity. A follow-up study of a smaller sample of the same students produced similar scores when students tested a month later, demonstrating high test-retest reliability.
Research has found a positive correlation between androgyny and psychological health, as Bem suggested.
Prakash et al. (2010) tested 100 married females in India on masculinity / femininity and a range of outcomes were measured, including psychopathology, depression, anxiety and perceived stress. Females with higher masculinity scores tend to have less psychopathology, were less depressed and anxious, and had reduced perception of stress. The converse was true of high femininity scores. COUNTER - Can be explained in terms of self-esteem. someone who scored high across masculine and feminine traits (i.e. androgynous) would also be higher in self-esteem than someone who only related to only male or female traits as the traits are socially desirable.
3 Limitations of androgyny and the BSRI
Response bias:
Asking people to rate themselves on a questionnaire relies on an introspective understanding of their personality and behaviour that they may not necessarily possess. As a result, acquiescence bias may be at play and therefore negatively skew the test results. Liberman and Gas (1986) analysed the data from 133 graduate students and found the students classed as androgynous simply had higher overall scores than those classes as either masculine or feminine. This occurs because some participants may have a tendency to select answers at the higher end of the Likert scale resulting in them being classed as androgynous
Lacks temporal validity:
Bem’s scale is made up of stereotypical traits (adjectives) of masculinity and femininity that may be outdated in the current social climate. This raises the question whether the test is still appropriate for modern use. Hoffman and Borders (2001) asked a group of 400 undergraduates to rate the items on the BSRI based on whether they were perceived as masculine or feminine. The results showed that only two terms were still endorsed as masculine and feminine, and these were the adjectives ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ themselves. The other terms in the test failed to reach a 75% agreement level suggesting the BSRI is no longer relevant and lacks temporal validity.
Ethnocentric and imposed etic:
Androgyny is considered crucial to the mental wellbeing of individuals in western cultures; however, this directly contrasts with collectivist societies where social cohesion is encouraged, and competitiveness is often discouraged. Margaret Mead (1935) extensively studied ethnic groups in Papua New Guinea and found that some groups valued masculine traits and some valued feminine traits. Therefore, assumptions about androgyny being the most ideal gender identity are culturally biased and should not be imposed on any non-Western culture
What does Sandra Bem believe?
Sandra Bem is a feminist who points out that sex-role stereotypes have become lenses through which we view the world. These lenses lead to 3 main beliefs held in Western society - men and women differ psychologically and sexually, men are the dominant and superior sex, and these differences are natural. However, Bem takes an interactionist approach whereby the similarities outweigh the differences. Society should be gender depolarized through the redefinition of our gender traits and the perception of what it means to be human, rather than male or female.
