'Psychologically androgynous' is a term used to describe an individual which exhibits both the typical, prosocial personality traits of males, and females. Research into gender differences oftern uses the BSRI. Sandra Bem developed the BSRI (Bem's Sex-Role Inventory) in order to measure how masculine 'M', feminine 'F' or coequal an individuals attributes are. Research by Katsurada and Sugihara (1999) found that this was reliable cross culturally. Their study on Japanese students found that Bem's original list "after a few items were removed from the scales" was both high in reliability and validity. Bruskin Associates researched into gender and communication apprehension (CA). CA is the extent to which an individual feels uncomfortable expressing
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Greenblatt found that those that scored highest on the BSRI were "better prepared to participate in oral communication situations", and whether male or female, the androgynous individual experienced less CA.Therefore Greenblatt argued that the BRSI "promises greater conceptual clarity... than relying merely on biological sex as a reliable and valid index of psychological gender." (Greenblatt et al, 1980 p117). This research therefore indicates that society had developed to become a larger proportion of androgynous individuals.
Furthermore a meta analysis of 69 studies, conducted by Eagly et al (2006) found that typically feminine qualities in a manager were viewed as "antithetical" towards leadership and not associated with a strong leader. This research was backed by Kark's research in 2002. This study found that consequently, this can result in a perceived contradiction between a woman's "leader role" and "gender role". (Kark, 2002 p620). The practical application of this research is that gender isn't clear cut and therefore, further research is needed.
The following study aims to use the BRSI to investigate gender differences in masculinity and femininity in the UK in the 21st century. This research is an up-to-date sample aiming to establish whether modern culture has a greater population of the psychologically androgynous.
Hypothesis 1: Males will have higher mean masculinity scores than …show more content…
The dependent variable was the scores the students produced from Bem's BSRI, which were tallied to show masculinity and femininity. The opportunity sample consisted of 253 undergraduate students at an English speaking university. Including 47 males and 206 females. The experiment took place within a lecture theater in order to erase distractions and to keep extranious variables low.
The students were given Bem's (1974) BSRI to complete (Appendix 1) consisting of items that represent the most desirable personality characteristics for a given sex". (Bem 1979) Furthermore through self-report, students were given a section to score their results (Appendix 2). The BSRI is made up of 40 adjectives - 20 describing positive personality traits associated with males and 20 personality traits positively associated with
Greenblatt found that those that scored highest on the BSRI were "better prepared to participate in oral communication situations", and whether male or female, the androgynous individual experienced less CA.Therefore Greenblatt argued that the BRSI "promises greater conceptual clarity... than relying merely on biological sex as a reliable and valid index of psychological gender." (Greenblatt et al, 1980 p117). This research therefore indicates that society had developed to become a larger proportion of androgynous individuals.
Furthermore a meta analysis of 69 studies, conducted by Eagly et al (2006) found that typically feminine qualities in a manager were viewed as "antithetical" towards leadership and not associated with a strong leader. This research was backed by Kark's research in 2002. This study found that consequently, this can result in a perceived contradiction between a woman's "leader role" and "gender role". (Kark, 2002 p620). The practical application of this research is that gender isn't clear cut and therefore, further research is needed.
The following study aims to use the BRSI to investigate gender differences in masculinity and femininity in the UK in the 21st century. This research is an up-to-date sample aiming to establish whether modern culture has a greater population of the psychologically androgynous.
Hypothesis 1: Males will have higher mean masculinity scores than …show more content…
The dependent variable was the scores the students produced from Bem's BSRI, which were tallied to show masculinity and femininity. The opportunity sample consisted of 253 undergraduate students at an English speaking university. Including 47 males and 206 females. The experiment took place within a lecture theater in order to erase distractions and to keep extranious variables low.
The students were given Bem's (1974) BSRI to complete (Appendix 1) consisting of items that represent the most desirable personality characteristics for a given sex". (Bem 1979) Furthermore through self-report, students were given a section to score their results (Appendix 2). The BSRI is made up of 40 adjectives - 20 describing positive personality traits associated with males and 20 personality traits positively associated with