[Page 134]Sex roles refer to the standards for behaviors, attitudes, values, vocational preferences, physical attributes, and personality traits that are viewed as appropriate for women and for men in a given culture. The terms sex role and gender role are sometimes used interchangeably, although sex role is inherently linked to biological gender and gender role is psychologically based. Despite gender differences that might be due to biological sex (e.g., childbearing), the general consensus is that sex roles are socially constructed and that children internalize sex roles mostly through social interactions with salient individuals in their lives. Standards for sex roles differ across cultures and in U.S. society, but the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) is one of the most popular measures of sex role personality ...