Negative Androgyny and Self-Esteem: Towards a Confound-Free Scale

Abstract

To assess the effects of negatively valued items on the concept of androgyny and its relationship with self-esteem, negative items were constructed to parallel the positively valued masculine and feminine items in the Bern Sex-role Inventory and validated for equivalent gender association. These items were added to the original positive items and the revised scale was administered with a self-derogation scale to 27 male and 26 female college students. Analysis showed strong relationships between self-derogation and negative traits for men and weaker, but expected relationships between self-derogation and negative traits for women. Bern's “undifferentiated” category of respondents, those individuals who endorsed few masculine and feminine traits, were redistributed when negative items were added to the scale. The authors conclude that individuals may exist who are androgynous in that they endorse both masculine and feminine traits but who were formerly classed as undifferentiated because low self-esteem restricted them from endorsing positive items. Implications for further research and redefining the concept of androgyny, especially as it applies to undifferentiated individuals, are discussed.