Sex-Role Stereotypes and Androgyny

• What is sex?

  Being genetically male (XY) or female (XX)
• What is gender?

  The psychological and cultural differences between males and females
• What are sex - role stereotypes?

  A set of preconceived beliefs about the expectations of males and females in a given society.
• What is a study showing evidence for sex-role stereotypes?

  Seavey et al. (1975)
• Describe Seavey et al.'s (1975) study


  -Adult participants were asked to interact with 3 month old infant

  -Infant wore yellow (androgynous colour)

  -Participants were told baby was either male, female or it wasn't specified (1/3 for each variable)

  -Array of toys were available to play with, football, plastic rings and ragdoll

  -When they were told the infant is male = plastic rings

  -When they were told the infant is female = ragdoll

  -When they weren't specified = participants immediately chose gender based off of physical appearance and given toy based off that
• What is androgyny?

  Displaying a balance of masculine and feminine characteristics in one's personality
• What is Bem's Sex Role Inventory (BSRI)?

  The first systematic attempt to measure androgyny by using a rated scale to produce scores
• Who created Bem's Sex Role Inventory (BSRI)?

  Sandra Bem (1974)
• Describe Sandra Bem's (1974) study of androgyny?

  - 100 American undergraduates (50 males and 50 females) were asked to rate if 200 items were desirable personality traits for men and women

  - List was narrowed to 60 items, 20 masculine, 20 feminine and 20 indifferent items

  - BSRI was the piloted with 1000 participants then asked to rate themselves using a 7-point Likert scale and given scores of their masculine, feminine, androgynous and undifferentiated traits
• What were the findings of Sandra Bem's (1974) study?

  34% of males and 27% of females were found to be androgynous. These individuals were found to be more adaptable to situations and had a greater sense of well-being
• How is the BSRI reliable?

  A smaller sample of the students from the original 1000 participants produced the same results a month later - test retest reliability
• How is the BSRI valid?

  The 1000 students and their results broadly corresponded with the original 100 American undergraduates' own description of their gender identity
• How does Hoffman and Borders' (2001) study showed the difference in attitudes from 40 years ago

  They asked 400 undergraduates to rate the items on the BSRI as masculine and feminine and found only two terms were still endorsed as masculine and feminine. All other terms failed to reach a 75% agreement level