Abstract
On the first and last days of the semester, 28 literature students (8 men, 20 women) rated themselves according to Spence and Helmreich's 1978 Personality Attributes Questionnaire. As expected, no significant differences between men and women appeared in comparisons of the scores of the dualistic Instrumental (Masculine or M) and Expressive (Feminine or F) traits from the first and second administrations. However, the combined scores of men and women for the bipolar M-F traits showed a significant difference between their initial responses and their second responses to the M-F traits. Further, men had significantly higher mean scores than did women for the first and second administrations. The mean scores on the second administration suggest that men had reinforced their initial stereotypical self-image of themselves, while women had appropriated manifestations of dominance in their self-ideal.
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