Androgyny and the BSRI

Androgyny

Displaying a balance of masculine and feminine characteristics in one's personality

BEM sex role inventory

 first systematic attempt to measure androgyny using a rating scale of 60 traits (20 masculine, 20 feminine, 20 neutral) to produce scores across two dimension:

Masculinity-femininity and androgynous-undifferentiated

Sandra Bem

developed a method for measuring androgyny and suggested that high androgyny is associated with psychological wellbeing - can adapt to a range of situations and contexts that other non-androgynous people would find difficult

An over-representation of opposite-sex characteristics does not qualify as androgyny

 a female who is very masculine of a male who is very feminine, would not exhibit the necessary balance of male and female traits

 

Measuring Androgyny: Bem sex role inventory (BSRI) - Characteristics

• Bem(1974) - scale presents 20 characteristics that would be commonly identified as 'masculine' (such as competitive and aggressive) and 20 that would typically be judged as 'feminine' (gentle and tender). A further 20 'neutral traits were include in the scale

Measuring Androgyny: Bem sex role inventory (BSRI) - Rating

• Respondents are required to rate themselves on a seven-point rating scale for each item ( 1 - 'never true of me' and 7 is 'always true of me'). Scores are then classified on the basis of 2 dimensions - masculinity-femininity and androgynous-undifferentiated - as follows:

What each score represents

High masculine, low feminine - masculine

High feminine, low masculine - feminine

High masculine, high feminine - androgynous

Low feminine, low masculine - undifferentiated

+ The Scale appears to be valid and reliable: The BSRI was developed by asking 50 male and 50 female judges to rate 200 traits in terms of how desirable they were for men and women

• The traits that were the highest scorers in each category became the 20 masculine and feminine traits on the scale

• The BSRI was then piloted with over 1,000 students and the results broadly corresponded with the p's own description of their gender identity - has a degree of validity

• A follow-up study involving a smaller sample of the same students revealed similar scores when the students were tested a month later. This suggests that the scale has high test-retest reliability

- Association between androgyny and psychological well-being

• Bem's assumption that androgyny is best for psychological wellbeing has been challenged - some researchers have argued that people who display a greater proportion of masculine traits are better adjusted as these are more highly valued in some societies - Adams and Sherer (1985)

• Suggests that Bem's research may not have taken adequate account of the social and cultural context in which it was developed

Oversimplifies a complex concept

• Suggested gender identity is too complex to be reduced to a single score - alternatives to BSRI have been developed; for instance, the Personal Attribute Questionnaire(PAQ), replaces Bem's masculinity-femininity dimension with one which measures instrumentality and expressivity. However, like the BSRI, the PAQ is still based on the idea that  gender identity can be quantified

• Golombok and Fivush (1994) - claimed that gender identity is a much more global concept than is suggested by these scales. In order to understand gender identity more fully, broader issues, such as the person's interests and perceptions of their own abilities

Cultural and Historical bias

• The BSRI was developed over 40 years ago, so behaviours relating to gender have changed over time

• Lacks temporal validity – stereotypical ideas of masculinity and femininity that may be outdated and lacking in temporal validity

• Scale was devised by a panel of judges from the US. Individualist notions of 'maleness' and 'femaleness' may not be shared across all cultures and societies

Measuring gender identity using questionnaires

• Questionnaires rely on an understanding of their personality and behaviour that they may not necessarily have

• Gender is a hypothetical construct which is much more open to interpretation – than for example, sex

• Questionnaire scoring is subjective and people's interpretation of the meaning of each end of the 7-point scale may differ