The Relationship of Psychological Masculinity and Femininity and Gender to Personalization and Social Emphasis in Environmental Schematization

Abstract

This study investigated differences in psychological masculinity and femininity and gender differences in subjects' descriptions with respect to contemporaneous and childhood environments. Subjects were 50 male and 50 female undergraduate students in an introductory psychology course. Results of the study showed significant effects for psychological masculinity and femininity on personalization for both environments and in social emphasis for the contemporaneous environment. Androgynous subjects consistently achieved the highest scores on both measures. Significant effects for gender were found for both the contemporaneous and childhood environments with females scoring higher than males on both the personal and social dimensions.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bakan, D. The duality of human existence. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1966.

Bem, S. L. The measurement of psychological androgyny . Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1974, 42, 155-162.

Bem, S. L. On the utility of alternate procedures for assessing psychological andorgyny . Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1977, 45, 196-205.

Block, J. H. Conceptions of sex role: Some cross-cultural and longitudinal perspectives . American Psychologist, 1973, 28, 512-526.

Carlson, R. Sex differences in ego functioning . Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1971, 37, 267-277.

Constantinople, A. Masculinity-femininity: An exception to a famous dictum . Psychological Bulletin, 1974, 80, 389-407.

Gutmann, D. Women and the conception of ego strength . Merrill Palmer Quarterly, 1965, 11, 229-240.

Holahan, C. J. & Holahan, C. K. Sex-related differences in the schematization of the behavioral environment. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 1977, 3, 123-126.

Ittelson, W. H. , Franck, K. A. , T O'Hanlon, T. J. The nature of environmental experience. In S. Wapner , S. B. Cohen , & B. Kaplan (Eds.), Experiencing the environment. New York: Plenum, 1976.

10.

Mischel, W. Toward a cognitive social learning reconceptualization of personality . Psychological Review, 1973, 80, 252-283.

11.

Spence, J. T. & Helmreich, R. L. Masculinity and femininity: Their psychological dimensions, correlates, and antecedents. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1978.

12.

Spence, J. T. , Helmreich, R. & Stapp, J. Ratings of self and peers on sex role attributes and their relation to self-esteem and conceptions of masculinity and femininity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1975, 32, 29-39.