Sex Roles and Androgyny

Question 1

What are sex role stereotpyes?

Answer 1

Socially/Culturally defined sets of expectations we have about the behaviour of each gender.
We learn these stereotypes both implicitly (internalisation) and explicitly (modelling).

Question 2

What is androgyny?

Answer 2

The idea that one person can display behaviours of both genders (Bem, 1970)
Most people perform non-stereotypical behaviours.
Stereotypes in modern society could cause psychological and social harm by artificially restricting behaviour.
- Reinforcing musturbatory distinctions could result in lower self-worth.

Question 3

Outline Bem’s Sex Role Inventory (BSRI).

Answer 3

• Contains 20 masculine, 20 feminine, 20 neutral items.
• Participants use a 7-point Likert scale to rate their likelihood of performing the behaviours.
  
  • Masculinity (high masc, low fem)
  • Femininity (high fem, low masc)
  • Androgyny (high ratio of masc to fem)
• Original: 5.8 fem : 5.85 masc = androgynous
• Modern: 100 masc : 103 fem = androgynous

Question 4

What is the BSRI criticised for and how did Bem account for this?

Answer 4

Describes androgyny but not the opposite (low in both traits).
A fourth category was added:
- Undifferentiated (low masc, low fem)
- Criticised for lack of construct validity (are there enough items to fully describe someone)

Question 5

What is Bem’s Gender Schema Theory?

Answer 5

As a result of findings:

• Everyone acts according to dominant schema for a given situation.
• Some people have a wider repertoire of schematic references than others.
• Some have learned very specific schemata (strongly M or F).

Question 6

What are some evaluations of Bem?

Answer 6

P - BSRI internally valid due to confounding variable
E - Nearly all behaviours on BSRI are socially desirable - this means a high score measures self-esteem as well as gender.
E - Furthermore, BSRI lacks temporal validity –> study in 2001 (rate all items M or F)
L - Therefore, BSRI is internally valid

P - Relationship between androgyny & mental health has research support.
E - Prakash et al. (2010) showed high androgyny associated with lower levels of depression in women.
E - May have real-world applications for parenting advice, discouraging stereotypes, may not be culturally valid/ethical, parents may be subject to abuse.
L - Economic and healthcare applications mean a promising area for policymakers, if a socially acceptable method is found.