Sharon

Psych1010
Lab3:Androgyny
TheverywordandrogynouswasdevelopedbyBem,whichliterallytranslatestomale
female.Thearticlegivesamoredetaileddefinitiontoandrogyny,whichdescribeindividuals
whoembracebothmasculineandfemininecharacteristicsanddependingonthesituation,the
behaviorsthatbestfit.Backinthe1970s,whenthiswasbeingdiscovered,therewereonlytwo
genders:masculineandfeminine.Onceborn,ababyssexactedasasortinghatthatdetermined
whetherornottheyweretobesortedintothemasculineorfemininehouse,reinforcedbyparents
andsocietyasawhole.Inordertobeinoptimalpsychologicalhealth(1),maleshadtobe
completelyengrossedinmasculinity,andfemales,femininity.Suddenly,everythingchanged
whenandrogynyattacked.Genderwasnolongerinstarkblackorwhite,nowpeoplewere
introducedtothewonderfulworldofandrogynousgreyscale.Androgynyrevealedthe
possibilitytobecomposedofbothmasculineandfemininetraits,ratherthanoneortheother.
Androgynypromisedamorecomplete,balancedbeing.
ItbeganwithAnneConstantinoplein1973.Shedefiedthestatusquoandenteredthe
seconddimensionofgenderscaling.Thescaleofhighmasculinetohighfeminineceasedto
exist,replacedbyamorerealisticscale:hightolowfeminine,andhightolowmasculine,
revealingapersontoactuallybemasculineandfemininesimultaneously.Ridingthewavewas
SandraBem,developingthetwodimensionalscaleevenfurther.Recallingfromearlier,Bem
coinedthetermandrogyny,andarguedhowabalanceofmasculineandfemininebehaviors
resultsamorebalanced,happierperson.Inmakingsuchanargument,Bemwaschargedwiththe
burdenofproof,resultinginthedevelopmentaseparatescalethatassessedonesgendercalled
theBemSexRoleInventory.Thescalewascreatedasameansofdifferentiatingbetweenthose

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withvariousmasculine,feminine,andandrogynousqualitiesbylookingatthedifference(1)in
thescoresofboththefeminineandmasculinesections.Ataglance,thescalemaynotseemso
different,consideringtheincorporationofthemasculineandfemininescalesdesignedby
Constantinople.However,thescaleisbasedonmasculineandfemininetraitsthatwere
perceivedasdesirableformenandwomenrespectively(1),whereasotherscaleswerebasedon
theobservedtraits.Saidtraitsaretoberatedonascaleofonetoseventodescribethe
respondent,onebeingneveroralmostnevertrue,tosevenbeingalmostalwaysoralwaystrue.
BemwentaboutcollectingdataforthedesirabletraitsfromStanfordUniversity.Thepopulation
wastheundergradswithasamplesizeofahundredstudents,50maleand50female.Oncethe
ratingsweregathered,shechosethetoptwentycharacteristicsforthemasculine,feminine,and
genderneutralcharacteristics.Thecharacteristicswerethensplitintotenpositiveandten
negativeforeachfeminine,masculine,andgenderneutral,inordertoreducethepossibilityof
therespondentsbecominginfluencedbyviewingthedescriptorsanddesirableitems.Once
finished,thefinalproductcontainedsixtymixedandunlabeleditems.Afterscoring,the
respondentwouldthenreceivethreescores:amasculinityscore,afemininityscore,andan
androgynyscore(1).Afterward,themasculinityscoreisdeterminedbyaddingupallthescores
onthemasculineitemsanddividingbytwentytoobtaintheaverageratingonthoseitems.The
femininityscoreislikewisedetermined.Theaveragescoreoneachofthesescalesmaybe
anywherefrom1.0to7.0(1).Saidscoresdonotincludetheandrogynousscores,rather,itis
determinedbythedifferencebetweenthemasculinityandfemininescores.Androgynywas
determinedbysubtractingthemasculinityscorefromthefemininityscore(1).Oncethe
respondenthasaccomplishedthis,thescoresclosesttozero,whetherpositiveornegative,

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Psych1010
indicateandrogyny,thescoresonthepositivesideindicategreaterfemininity,andthoseonthe
negative,greatermasculinity.
P3:Whywoulditbeadvantageousforapersontobeandrogynous?Itishopedthatthe
developmentoftheBSRIwillencourageinvestigatorsintheareasofsexdifferencesandsex
rolestoquestionthetraditionalassumptionthatisitisthesextypedindividualwhotypifies
mentalhealthandtobeginfocusingonthebehavioralandsocialconsequencesofthemore
flexiblesexroleconcepts.Inasocietywhererigidsexroledifferentiationhasalreadyoutlived
itsutility,perhapstheandrogynouspersonwillcometodefineamorehumanstandardof
psychologicalhealth(1).Bemstestsupportsresearchprovingthathighselfesteemandbetter
versatilityindifferentsettingsareatendencyamongandrogynouskidsandadults.Sincethey
possessbothmasculineandfemininepositiveandnegativetraits,relationshipsinvolvingan
androgynouspersonaremorelikelytosucceed,duetotheirabilitytorelateandunderstandboth
sides.

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Psych1010

SourcesCited
1.Bem,S.L."MasculineorFeminine...OrBoth?"JournalofConsultingandClinical
Psychology42(1974):15562.Web.