Sociology Gender Roles Gender Identity BEM Scale Gender
Sociology • Gender Roles • Gender Identity • BEM Scale
Gender Roles • Cultural expectations imposed on men and women to behave in ways deemed appropriate for their gender. • Ex. 93% of registered nurses in America are women.
Gender Identity • Refers to a person’s psychological sense of being male or female. • Adulthood- gender identity is well est. • Gender typing= societies ideas about which abilities, interest, • Traits, and behaviors are appropriately “masculine” or “feminine”. • Note: One can have a strong gender identity & NOT be gender typed. • Ex. A man is confident in his maleness, and he does not feel threatened by doing “unmasculine” things.
Sandra Ruth Lipsitz-Bem • (June 22, 1944 - present) • Bachelors in Psychology • Empirical research in developmental psychology • Ph. D. in Developmental psychology at the age of 23! • Created a measurement called the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI).
Dr. Lipsitz • Age 30 received the APA Distinguished Scientific Award for an Early Career Contribution to Psychology • Distinguished Publication Award of the Association for Women in Psychology in 1977 • Awarded and honorary Doctor of Science from Wilson College in 1985 • And on and on….
BSRI • Independent assessment of masculinity and femininity in terms of the respondent’s self-reported possession of socially desirable, stereotypically masculine and feminine personality characteristics. • Sixty questions---20 regarding masculine characteristics, 20 regarding feminine, and 20 neutral
BSRI • Designed for conducting empirical research on psychological androgyny • Also used for gender awareness
Androgynous • A term used to describe people who posses high levels of both masculine and feminine traits. Ex. A person who can be both assertive and nurturing.
Administration • Self administering • Not a timed test • College and older
Normative Data • Students, mostly between the ages of 16 and 21 were used; 444 male and 279 female students from Stanford University, and 117 male and 77 female students from Foothill Junior college. • Recent studies have used Subjects aged 31 -65.
Bem Scales • High on masculinity and femininity. Androgynous • Low on masculinity and femininity. Undifferentiated • High on masculinity and low on femininity. Masculine • High on femininity and low on masculinity. Feminine
Results from the original study • The percentages of androgyny found within the normative data: Stanford University Foothill College Males 44% Females 38% Females 34% 27%
Scoring Results • The scale is scored by using an inferential statistical test. • Inferential Statistics= Allow researchers to draw inferences about how statistically meaningful a study’s results are. Inferential statistics involve the application of mathematical formulas to the data.
Significance for Psych and Soc • Clarified and questioned long-held assumptions about the oppositional or bipolar nature of sex roles and persuasively put forward a concept of psychological androgyny. • Provided empirical data for gender identity scholarship.
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