Androgyny & the BSRI

• Androgyny

  Displaying a balance of masculine and feminine characteristics in one’s personality
• Sandra Bem- BSRI

  Bem Sex Role Inventory
• What did Bem say about Androgyny

  High androgyny is associated with psychological well-being
• what did the sex role inventory consist of

  -self report questionnaire

  -60 items rated on a 7 point scale

  -20 items relate to masc traits

  -20 items relate to fem traits

  -20 items are gender neutral
• high M score, low F score =


  Masculine
• low M score, high F score =

  Feminine
• High ratio of both M & F score =

  Androgynous
• Strength of Androgyny - Research

  Flaherty & Duesk (1980)

  Found that emotional wellbeing and higher self esteem is found in androgynous individuals

  Peter & Cantrell (1995)

  Found androgynous females had the best quality relationships

  -> support the link between androgyny and psychological health cuz Bem placed great emphasis on the idea that androgynous ppl are more psychologically healthy

  -> best able to deal with situations that demand a masculine, feminine or androgynous response
• Criticism Androgyny

  
  

  Adam’s & Sherer (1985)

  People who develop a greater proportion of masculine traits are better adjusted as those are more highly valued in individualistic cultures

  -> competitiveness, assertiveness, ambition, power
• Strength of the BSRI as a measuring tool

  Valid & Reliable

  BSRI was piloted on 100 students and the results corresponded with own gender identity = VALIDITY

  Follow up study (month later) with a smaller sample of the same students produced similar results = TEST-RETEST RELIABILITY
• Limitation of the BSRI as a measuring tool

  Lacks Temporal Validity

  • Developed 40yrs ago
  • What is ‘typical’ and ’acceptable‘ in gender has changed significantly since
  • Scale was made up of stereotypical ideas of masculinity and femininity = outdated
• Limitation of the BSRI as a measuring tool

  Generalisability

  Western

  American

  White Students

  Individualistic culture
• Limitation of the BSRI as a measuring tool

  Response bias

  • Relies on ppl having a clear understanding of their personality and gender identity
  • People may have an incorrect view of themselves
  • Gender is a social construct and open to interpretation
  • Questionnaire Scoring system is subjective
  • Misunderstanding of questions