Androgyny Flashcards
What is androgyny?
co-existence of male and female characteristics within the same individual
What did Olds in 1983 believe compared to Bem in 1983?
androgyny is a higher developmental stage reached by some, while Bem argued that androgynous individuals have a different cognitive style and adopt behaviours
What hypotheses in 1975 did Bem develop?
androgyny was a positive and desirable condition
What did Bem create?
a self report measure of masculinity/femininity and gender role
What did Bem’s self report consist of?
20 items masculine, 20 items feminine, 20 items neutral all rated on a 7 point scale
What categories of a person does the test suggest there are?(Bem)
- masculine - high m low f
- feminine - high f low m
- androgynous - high m high f
- undifferentiated - low m low f
What did Bem find?
34% males and 27% females androgynous
What did Flaherty and Dusek 1980 find?
androgynous individuals have a higher degree of self-esteem, a better sense of emotional well being and more adaptable behaviour
What did Peters and Cantrell find when using the BSRI?
androgynous females had the best quality of relationships, supporting the idea of being in a positive condition
What did Rose and Montemayor 1994 find?
25%-30% of US high school students defined themselves as androgynous with more girls than boys suggesting this
What does the BSRI have a good of?
test-retest reliability as it produces consistent results when used on different occasions
Why are there doubts about the BSRI reliability?
it was created from data generated by American students in the 1970’s about what they perceived desirable characteristics of men and woman - lack external validity
Why might androgyny not always be positive?
as they can exhibit negative masculine characteristics like being too agressive
Why is the BSRI over simplistic?
it reduces masculinity and femininity down to a single score
