Document Type
Article
Language
eng
Format of Original
12 p.
Publication Date
Fall 2013
Publisher
Center for Scholastic Inquiry
Source Publication
Journal of Scholastic Inquiry: Behavioral Sciences
Source ISSN
2330-6742
Abstract
This study reassessed the profiles of traits associated with stereotypic males and females in 2009- 2010 35 years after the Bern (1974) Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) was introduced. Qualitative changes could have resulted from other cultural trends toward occupational and educational equality or growing public awareness of the nature of gender roles. The adjectives appearing in the BSRI, which produces a measure of androgyny, were rated as stereotypically male, female, or neutral by 1075 undergraduates. Chi-square tests, which assigned adjectives to genders, indicated that most of the traits formerly associated with males are now considered neutral. The characteristic ''childlike," which formerly characterized women, now characterizes men. The female's stereotype was mostly unchanged although "theatrical'' appears to be added to their repertoire. There was little disagreement between the genders in the assignment of adjectives to stereotypes. Implications for the identity of American males are discussed.
Recommended Citation
Guastello, Denise D. and Guastello, Stephen, "The American Male and Female 35 Years Later: Bem Sex Role Inventory Revisited" (2013). Psychology Faculty Research and Publications. 263.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/psych_fac/263
Comments
Published version. Journal of Scholastic Inquiry: Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Fall 2013): 8-19. Permalink. © 2013 Center for Scholastic Inquiry. Used with permission.