Androgyny & BSRI

• Androgyny

  Balance of masculine and feminine characteristics in one's personality
• Androgyny example

  • David Beckham as competitive and aggressive on the field but balanced with being a caring and sensitive father
• BSRI

  Bem Sex Role Inventory in 1974
• High androgyny

  Associated with psychological wellbeing
• Androgynous people

  • More comfortable with who they are because there aren't expectations forced upon them
  • Can handle situations in flexible ways, thus, better equipped to adapt in contexts non-androgynous would find difficult
  • Psychologically healthier because they don't suppress themselves to fit in with sex-role stereotypes
• BSRI traits

  • 20 masculine
  • 20 feminine
  • 20 neutral
• BSRI scoring

  Rate yourself from 1 – 7 (1 = never true of me) (7 = always true of me)
• BSRI gender classifications


  • High masculine, low feminine = masculine
  • High feminine, low masculine = feminine
  • High masculine, high feminine = androgynous
  • Low feminine, low masculine = undifferentiated
• Support - BSRI's methodology


  • Reliable and valid: 50 male and 50 female, piloted with 1000 students; follow-up with smaller sample showed similar scores - most of the classification given by the BSRI agreed w/ pilot student's own perception of their gender identity, their perception of their gender identity didn't change therefore wasn't a one-off therefore suggests high validity and high test-retest reliability
• Challenges to links between wellbeing and androgyny


  Adams & Sherer 1985 = masculine-trait people better adjusted due to Western society - [Bem = androgynous people are more psychologically healthy because can deal w/ masculine., feminine or androgynous demanding situations] challenged because masc traits are more accepted in West and Bem was applying West standard therefore not culturally sensitive and ignores social and cultural context
• Lack of temporal validity of BSRI

  BSRI developed 40 years ago, scale devised by US judges panel - 'typical' and 'acceptable' behaviours now outdated (eg; childlike and gullible = feminine), West notions of 'maleness' and 'femininity' not shared across cultures therefore Bem's criteria outdated due to social changes
• Limitations of questionnaires


  Gender is a hypothetical construct, more open to interpretation, P's have to rate and score themselves - relies on understanding of behaviour and personality P may not have; down to P's own meaning of 7-point-scale, subjective scoring therefore open for social desirability bias, questionable internal validity
• Gender identity cannot be reduced to a single score

  Golombok & Fivush 1994 = it's a global concept - must be fully understood by considering broader issues such as interests and perception of own abilities therefore reductionist – suggests gender identity can be quantified