Androgyny

• what is androgyny?

  • a person can be both masc and fem.
  • can act masc in some situations, and fem in others.
• bem (1974):

  • developed the androgynous hypothesis which stated that as a positive and desirable condition.
  • constructed an inventory to investigate male & female traits.
• what did bem find?

  • that men scored more highly on traits that were rated as being masc and females rated highly on fem traits.
  • however, it was more common to be androgynous than to be either extremely fem or masc.
  • research suggests that androgyny can lead to increase in positive mental health.
• limitations of bem:

  • respondents likely to give answers that are socially desirable (demand characteristics).
  • subjective- androgyny may not always be positive. the scale itself (1-7); people may interpret scale differently, as they are her ideas of masculinity & femininity.
  • simplistic- reducing masc & fem down to single scores/personality characteristics.
  • respondents need to be honest/aware of their own personality.
• cognitive explanations of androgyny- gender schema theory:

  • according to bem, when faced w/a decision on how to act, a traditionally sex-typed person (e.g. female w/a feminine typed behaviour) would act in a way that would be appropriate to their gender because of an existing gender schema.
• according to bem, how would an androgynous person decide to act?

  • would have a different cognitive style and adopt behaviours, when necessary, that are independent of gender concepts.
  • androgynous people are gender aschematic = not influenced by sex-role stereotypes/perceive the world w/out them.
• according to orlofsky (1977) how could androgynous behaviour develop (behavioural explanation)?

  learned through reinforcement, allowing individuals to acquire masc and fem qualities applicable to diff situations.
• outline burchardt & serbin’s (1982) study (research to support androgyny):

  • aim: to see whether androgynous p’s in psychiatric units and in the lay (normal) pop. have a more positive mental health.
  • method: 106 fem, 84 male (undergraduates), 48 fem & 48 male (psychiatric patients).
  • sample: all p’s were administered the BRSI and the FAMMPI, in order to be classified as masc, fem, androgynous or undifferentiated personalities.
• results of burchardt & serbin’s study?

  • androgynous females scored sig. lower for depression and social introversion than fem females, in college sample were also lower on the SZ and mania scales than masc females.
  • hospitalised male sample- pattern was partially sustained w/androgynous masc p’s sig. less deviant than fem males, and lower in depression.
  • in the group of college males, androgynous males scored lower on social introversion than fem males.
• conclusion of burchardt & serbin’s study:

  being androgynous is positively correlated w/good mental health, especially concerning levels of depression.
• evaluate one aspect of the method used in the BRSI:

  • has good test-retest reliability.
  • produces consistent results when used in different occasions w/the same p’s.
  • this is a strength because it demonstrates that the BSRI is an effective & reliable way of assessing levels of androgyny; masc & fem.