Measurement of Gender (AQA A Level Psychology): Revision Note

The Bem Sex Role Inventory

• Measurement of gender is conducted using the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) scale, developed by Sandra Bem in 1974

• According to Bem, people who are psychologically roughly equal parts masculine and feminine (androgynous) are better able to adjust to a variety of settings and contexts than either a very masculine woman or a very feminine man

• The 20 masculine, 20 feminine and 20 gender-neutral traits making up the BSRI were selected by asking 50 male and 50 female judges to rate 200 traits for how desirable they were for men and women

  • Tthe highest-scoring traits in each category were included

• Respondents rate themselves for each item on the BSRI on a scale of 1-7

• Participants receive a score for masculinity and femininity, and the androgyny score can be defined as scoring high in both masculine and feminine items

• The test was revised by Bem in 1977 to create four categories of persons:

  • Masculine: high masculinity, low femininity

  • Feminine: low masculinity, high femininity

  • Androgynous: high masculinity, high femininity

  • Undifferentiated: low masculinity, low femininity

An extract from the BSRI (adapted from Bem, 1974)

Evaluation of the BSRI

Strengths

• The BSRI has good validity, as it was developed by asking 50 male and 50 female judges to rate 200 traits in terms of how desirable they were for men and women, with the highest scorers being included on the BSRI

  • When piloted with over 1,000 students, the results broadly corresponded with the participants' own descriptions of their gender identity, showing high validity

    • A follow-up study with a smaller sample of the same students a month later produced similar scores, supporting the scale's reliability

• The BSRI inventory has good test-retest reliability over four weeks with correlations ranging from +.76 to +.94 (Bem, 1981)

  • A shorter form of the scale with 30 items had a strong correlation of +.90 with the original, as the shorter version removed less socially desirable terms (e.g., childlike), thus improving the internal reliability of the test

Limitations

• Scoring oneself on the BSRI requires insight into one's own personality and behaviour, which people may lack

  • Furthermore, gender is a hypothetical construct, far more open to subjective interpretation than biological sex

    • This means self-ratings on a 1–7 scale may not be a valid measure of gender identity

• Bem's central claim that androgynous individuals are more psychologically healthy, has been challenged

  • Adams & Sherer (1985) argue that people with a greater proportion of masculine traits are better adjusted, as these traits are more highly valued in Western societies

    • This suggests that context and cultural values, rather than androgyny itself, may determine which gender identity is most adaptive

Issues & Debates

• The BSRI is culturally biased, as it was developed in the 1970s based on American university students’ views of masculine and feminine traits

  • Concepts of gender have evolved significantly, and traits seen as “masculine” or “feminine” may no longer apply universally

• The use of tools like the BSRI reflects a nomothetic approach, as it attempts to apply general laws about gender by categorising individuals using standardised scales across large groups

  • This contrasts with an idiographic approach, which would focus on individual experiences of gender identity, recognising that gender is personal, fluid and context-dependent