Do Sex Differences Define Gender-Related Individual Differences within the Sexes? Evidence from Three Studies

Abstract

Do questionnaire items (e.g., masculinity and femininity scale items, occupational preference items) that show large sex differences tend also to be those items that correlate most strongly with independent gender-related criteria within the sexes? Three different criteria of within-sex gender-related individual differences were studied in data from three studies: a composite of eight gender-related behaviors in Study 1, masculinity-femininity as rated by friends and family members in Study 2, and self-ascribed masculinity-femininity in Studies 1, 2, and 3. Data from all studies and for all criteria converged, showing that items displaying large sex differences tended also to correlate most strongly with independent gender-related criteria within the sexes. Implications for the assessment of gender-related and other kinds of group-related individual differences are discussed.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

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

Bem, S. L. (1981). Bem Sex-Role Inventory: Professional manual. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.

Campbell, D. P. , & Hansen, J. C. (1981). Manual for the SVIB-SCII, Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory, Form T325 of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (3rd ed.). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Constantinople, A. (1973). Masculinity-femininity: An exception to a famous dictum? Psychological Bulletin, 80, 389-407.

Heilbrun, A. B. (1976). Measurement of masculine and feminine sex role identities as independent dimensions. Journal of Clinical and Consulting Psychology, 44, 183-190.

Lewin, M. (1984a). "Rather worse than folly?" Psychology measures femininity and masculinity, 1. In M. Lewin (Ed.), In the shadows of the past: Psychology portrays the sexes-a social and intellectual history (pp. 155-178). New York: Columbia University Press.

Lewin, M. (1984b). Psychology measures femininity and masculinity, 2: From "13 gay men" to the instrumental-expressive distinction. In M. Lewin (Ed.), In the shadows of the past: Psychology portrays the sexes-a social and intellectual history (pp. 179-204). New York: Columbia University Press.

Lippa, R. (1991). Some psychometric characteristics of gender diagnosticity measures: Reliability, validity, consistency across domains, and relationship to the Big Five. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61, 1000-1011.

Lippa, R. , & Connelly, S. (1990). Gender diagnosticity: A new Bayesian approach to gender-related individual differences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 1051-1065.

10.

McNemar, Q. (1962). Psychological statistics (3rd ed.). New York: Wiley.

11.

Pedhazur, E. J. , & Tetenbaum, T. J. (1979). Bem Sex Role Inventory: A theoretical and methodological critique. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37, 996-1016.

12.

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

13.

Spence, J. T. , Helmreich, R. L. , & Stapp, J. (1974). The Personal Attributes Questionnaire: A measure of sex role stereotypes and masculinity-femininity. JSAS: Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 4, 43. (Ms. No. 617).

14.

Terman, L. M. , & Miles, C. C. (1936). Sex and personality: Studies in masculinity and femininity. New York: Russell & Russell.