Androgyny

• androgyny

  balance of masculine and feminine traits in one personalities
• Bems sex role inventory

  20 characteristics commonly judged and masculine and 20 judged as feminine

  20 neutral traits

  7 point rating scale

  scores classified as masculine, feminine, androgynous and undifferentiated
• Bems sex role inventory strengths

  strenghts

  valid- developed by asking 50 male and 50 female judges to rate 200 traits in terms of how desirable they are

  20 highest scoring traits included feminine and masculine

  BSRI piloted with over 1000 students

  scale reliable- follow up study involving a smaller sample, similar scores tested month later

  high test-retest reliability
• strengths

  Flaherty and Dusek found androgyny individuals had high degree of self-esteem and better sense of emotional well-being

  problems with validity- cultural and historical bias as done by American students in the 1970s
• weakness

  oversimplifies a complex concept

  gender identity is too complex to be reduced to a single store

  broader issues should be considered e.g persons interests and perception of their own abilities

  problems using questionnaires- subjective scoring social desirability etc