Faculty Mentor(s)
Dr. Paul Koch
Project Type
Honors Program project
Scholarship Domain(s)
Scholarship of Discovery
Presentation Type
Presentation
Abstract
The Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) is a tool created by Sandra Bem in the 1970’s aimed at measuring individual’s androgyny. Critiques concerning the theoretical and methodological framework suggest that it may be in need of an update. The purpose of my research was to determine if and what adjustments were needed for the BSRI. An adjusted version of the short form of the BSRI was distributed to undergraduate students on a small Christian university campus in the Midwest. Respondents rated traits from the BSRI in regards to social desirability, personal desirability, and gendered connotation. The results exhibited that three traits, forceful, dominant, and aggressive are no longer viewed as either socially or personally desirable, indicating that they may need to be removed and replaced on the BSRI. In addition, male respondents rated traditionally feminine traits such as affectionate, warm, compassionate, gentle, sympathetic, sensitive to the needs of others, soothes hurt feelings, understanding, and, loves children to be less desirable than their female counterparts, although still viewed them as generally desirable. Several masculine traits including willing to take a stand, defends own beliefs, independent, and strong personality also received more androgynous classifications indicating that the hard lines between what is viewed as masculine and feminine may be slowly thinning.
Permission Type
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Included in
Evaluation and Revision of BSRI Trait Selection
Fishbowl
The Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) is a tool created by Sandra Bem in the 1970’s aimed at measuring individual’s androgyny. Critiques concerning the theoretical and methodological framework suggest that it may be in need of an update. The purpose of my research was to determine if and what adjustments were needed for the BSRI. An adjusted version of the short form of the BSRI was distributed to undergraduate students on a small Christian university campus in the Midwest. Respondents rated traits from the BSRI in regards to social desirability, personal desirability, and gendered connotation. The results exhibited that three traits, forceful, dominant, and aggressive are no longer viewed as either socially or personally desirable, indicating that they may need to be removed and replaced on the BSRI. In addition, male respondents rated traditionally feminine traits such as affectionate, warm, compassionate, gentle, sympathetic, sensitive to the needs of others, soothes hurt feelings, understanding, and, loves children to be less desirable than their female counterparts, although still viewed them as generally desirable. Several masculine traits including willing to take a stand, defends own beliefs, independent, and strong personality also received more androgynous classifications indicating that the hard lines between what is viewed as masculine and feminine may be slowly thinning.