Sex-Role Orientation

Measurement of Sex-Role Orientation

The study of gender roles began to intensify in the 1930s when intelligence researchers (principally, Lewis Terman) hypothesized that gender may be a better predictor of intelligence than sex. In 1936, the first measure to assess gender, the Attitude Interest Analysis Survey (the name disguised its true intent) was published, followed by the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory that also had a scale tapping into gender. The Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ) are currently the most common measures of masculinity and femininity. The BSRI consists of 20 masculine (e.g., ambitious, self-reliant, independent, assertive), 20 feminine (e.g., affectionate, gentle, understanding, sensitive to the needs of others), and 20 socially desirable but gender-neutral personality traits (e.g., truthful, happy, conceited). The PAQ consists of 12 adjectives assessing femininity-expressivity (e.g., kind, gentle, helpful) and 12 adjectives assessing masculinity-instrumentality (e.g., active, competitive, independent). Given that masculinity and femininity are seen as distinct concepts—that is, a person can have high or low levels of each rather than conceptualizing masculinity and femininity as opposing ends of a single dimension—both measures use separate scales for each. Participants indicate how true each of the adjectives listed are of them.

Many attributes on the BSRI and PAQ are socially desirable, which led to the development of other measures that included more negative items. Individuals are more likely to say they possess positive characteristics regardless of whether the characteristic is masculine or feminine, a tendency which can interfere with true measurements of sex-role orientation. Consequently, an extension of the PAQ [Page 1450]was developed in 1979 that included the darker side of masculinity and femininity—referred to as unmitigated agency and communion. These two concepts are closely related concepts to masculinity and femininity. Individuals high in unmitigated agency (similar to masculinity) focus more on themselves to the exclusion of others. Individuals high in unmitigated communion orientation (similar to femininity) focus on others' needs and forming connections to the exclusion of self. Today gender and sex-role orientation are best viewed as psychological concepts with many different components.

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