Bems research into androgyny - the use of BSRI

• Define Androgyny

  Androgyny refers to when an individual displays high amounts of both masculine and feminine traits.

  E.g they may be very authoritative at work (a masculine trait) but very nurturing at home (a feminine trait).
• Outline Bems research into androgyny - BSRI

  Bem created the BSRI, a 60-item inventory, to measure androgyny. It comprises of 20 masculine traits (e.g. athletic and assertive), 20 feminine traits (e.g. shy and

  affectionate) and 20 neutral traits (e.g. helpful and likable). When completing the BSRI, participants rate themselves on each trait along a 7-point scale from almost never true to almost always true.
• Outline Bem’s research into androgyny - BSRI what was found

  Based on these ratings, participants are identified as either: Masculine (high masculine score but low feminine score), Feminine (high feminine score but low masculine score), Androgynous (high masculine and feminine scores) or Undifferentiated (low masculine and feminine scores) Bem found that people who scored as highly androgynous reported more positive feelings about themselves (higher self-esteem) and also viewed their relationships with others as more positive.
• Outline Bem‘s research into androgyny - concluded

  Bem therefore concluded that people who are androgynous are psychologically healthier than people who are strongly masculine, feminine or undifferentiated. Bem suggested that this was because androgynous people do not feel the need to suppress themselves to fit in with sex role stereotypes. Instead, they feel free to perform masculine or feminine behaviours regardless of their biological sex.
• Strength of the BSRI is that it has high test-retest reliability

  This is because Bem asked participants to complete the BSRI once and then again a few weeks later. Their

  two results were then correlated and Bem found a correlation coefficient of between 0.7-0.9. This is a strength because this suggests there is a strong positive correlation between the participants’ two sets of scores and so the BSRI must be a reliable measure of androgyny. Therefore adds credibility.
• limitation of BSRI - lacks temporal validity

  Developed 40 years ago so traits regarded as masculine and feminine may have changed since. More recent research involved asking a group of undergraduates to rate items on BSRI for masculinity and femininity. Found that the only word “masculine” was considered a masculine trait same thing for femininity. All other words were no longer identified as masc/fem traits. Limitation as suggests BSRI is made up of stereotypical ideas that are outdated - no longer apply to todays society - ? Cred.
• Limitation of the BSRI is that it may not generalise across cultures

  This is because it was created by asking American people to rate traits in terms of how

  desirable they were for men and women. The 20 traits rated as the most desirable for men became the 20 masculine traits while the 20 traits rated the most desirable for women became the 20 feminine traits. This a limitation because it means the BSRI represents western views of what is masculine and what is feminine, and this may not be shared across all cultures. Therefore questions credibility.
• Limitation of BSRI - subjective/ risk of social desirability bias

  This is because participants have to rate themselves on traits such as how loyal and ambitious they are on a scale of 1-7. This is a limitation because people may interpret the 7-point scale subjectively (i.e. someone’s idea of

  what 6 means may be very different to what another person’s perception of 6 is). They may also rate themselves higher or lower on certain traits so that they appear more desirable. so the BSRI may not produce objective, valid findings about how androgynous someone is. Therefore questions credibility