Androgyny

• What is androgyny?

  Balance of masculine and feminine traits
• Who developed a method for measuring androgyny?

  Bem
• What is high androgyny associated with?

  Psychological well-being
• How are individuals with psychological androgyny described?

  Equally masculine and feminine
• What was the aim of Bem's 1974 study?

  Examine psychological androgyny
• How many American undergraduates participated in Bem's study?

  100
• What types of traits were included in Bem's study?

  Masculine, feminine, and neutral traits
• How many traits were participants asked to rank?

  60 traits
• What scale did participants use to rank traits?

  7-point Likert scale
• How were scores classified in Bem's study?

  Masculinity-femininity and androgynous-undifferentiated
• What classification indicates high masculinity and low femininity?

  Masculine
• What classification indicates high femininity and low masculinity?

  Feminine
• What classification indicates high masculinity and high femininity?

  Androgynous
• What classification indicates low masculinity and low femininity?

  Undifferentiated
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of Bem's research method?

  Strengths:

  • Quantitative research provides numerical data
  • Useful for research purposes

  
  

  Weaknesses:

  • Qualitative methods may better analyze gender
  • Subjective scoring in questionnaires
• Who argued that there is more to gender than typical behaviors?

  Spence
• What did Spence (1984) suggest about gender analysis?

  Qualitative methods offer better analysis
• How was the BSRI developed for validity and reliability?

  Judges rated 200 traits for masculinity and femininity
• How many judges were involved in developing the BSRI?

  100 judges (50 male, 50 female)
• What was the outcome of piloting the BSRI with over 1000 students?

  Results matched participants' gender identity
• What is a concern regarding the temporal validity of the BSRI?

  It may be outdated regarding gender roles
• What does the BSRI's outdated nature suggest?

  It may lack generalizability
• What is a limitation of self-rating in the BSRI?

  Relies on self-awareness of personality
• What does the subjective scoring system in the BSRI imply?

  Scoring may differ among individuals
• What does the subjective nature of the BSRI suggest?

  It may not be a scientific assessment
• What is a strength for the BSRI?

  Quantitative Research

  • Bem’s numerical approach is useful for research purposes when it is necessary
  • However, Spence (1984) argued that there is more to gender than typical behaviours of one gender, so qualitative methods offer a better way of analysing gender; a compromise being to combine different scales
  • This suggests that both quantitative together with qualitative approaches may be useful for studying different aspects of androgyny
• What is a strength for the BSRI?

  Valid & Reliable

  • The scale was developed by asking 50 male and 50 female judges to rate 200 traits in terms of how much the traits represented masculinity and femininity and each that scored highest became the 20 traits used on the scale
  • The BSRI was then piloted with over 1000 students and the results corresponded with the participants’ own description of their  gender identity, as well as a follow-up study produced similar scores
  • This gives us reason to believe the test was both valid and reliable
• What is a limitation for the BSRI?

  Temporal Validity

  • The BSRI was developed over 40 years ago and behaviours that are regarded as typical in relation to gender have changed significantly since then
  • The BSRI is made up of stereotypical ideas of masculinity and femininity that may be outdated
  • This suggests the BSRI may lack temporal validity and generalisability, and may not be a suitable measure of gender identity
• What is a limitation for the BSRI?

  Self-Awareness

  • Asking people to rate themselves on a questionnaire relies on people having an understanding on their personality and behaviour that they may not necessarily have
  • The questionnaire’s scoring system is subjective and people’s application of the 7-point system may differ
  • This suggests that the BSRI may not be an objective, scientific way of assessing masculinity, femininity or androgyny