Exploratory and Confirmatory Studies of the Structure of the Bem Sex Role Inventory Short Form With Two Divergent Samples

Abstract

The short form of the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) contains half as many items as the long form and yet has often demonstrated better reliability and validity. This study uses exploratory and confirmatory factor analytic methods to examine the structure of the short form of the BSRI. A structure noted elsewhere also emerged here, consisting of two masculine factors and a single feminine factor. The three-factor model was found to be invariant across gender groups and also across two divergent samples, the first sample of college students and the second sample of accountants. As expected, women were found to score higher on the feminine factor. On a masculine factor that seemed to represent social control, men scored significantly higher than women did. However, no differences were found between men and women on a second masculine factor that seemed to represent a more internal, self-control dimension.