Dissertations and Theses @ UNI
Availability
Open Access Thesis
Keywords
Sex role--Testing;
Abstract
This study's primary focus is an empirical analysis of the Bem Sex-role Inventory (BSRI). This sex-role inventory has been heralded by many in the social sciences and has received wide acceptance. It has not, however, been without its critics. Specifically, Bem's scale has been criticized for failing to adequately protect against response tendency, for the inclusion of some of the masculine, feminine, and social desirability traits, and for claiming to measure the specific, orthogonal dimensions of masculinity and femininity. Other methodological shortcomings have been noted by various researchers, but the three listed above appear to be the most prominent. Background information as well as the rationale underlying the construction of the BSRI are examined. The first three chapters introduce the reader to a brief summary of traditional sex-role research, present an overview of theoretical stances, and show the evolutionary processes which have moved researchers from traditionally held beliefs to those concentrating on the concept of androgyny. This concept is central to the BSRI since Bem claims that through her scale, persons can receive an androgyny score. This androgyny score comes about through a comparison of an individual's BSRI masculine and feminine scores. The rationale behind the BSRI's construction is scrutinized as well some of its psychometric properties. Following these discussions, the results of one study are presented and discussed. The data used in this paper are derived from a study on intimate violence which took place at the University of Northern Iowa during the 1987, Spring semester. A total of 848 undergraduate students took part in this study which included their self-ratings on all sixty BSRI items. Analysis of the data concentrated on the three primary areas of criticism with the intention of adding to the cumulative body of knowledge with respect to the BSRI's worth as an androgyny-measuring instrument. With respect to response tendency, a comparison of means with an ANOVA procedure showed that this may not be a problem since the ANOVA F-tests showed most of the differences to be statistically significant. Additional checks for a socially desirable response tendency also provide evidence that such concern is not warranted. Factor analysis of the self-ratings show that Bem's scale may, in fact, be measuring the dimensions of masculinity and femininity as she claims, however, these dimensions are more akin to instrumental, agenetic, and expressive orientations and resultant behavior. Further, the masculine/instrumental domains appear to be multi-dimensional. Concentrating on trait selection, discriminant function analysis revealed that discrimination between sex-typed and androgynous male and female respondents is primarily due to the differential ratings of approximately one-half of the forty traits. This casts doubt as to the wisdom of utilizing all forty masculine and feminine traits, and, additionally, may indicate that the BSRI is in need of modification. Apart from establishing the scale's validity, the other primary concerns were to construct a modified version of the BSRI if, in fact, the scale (a) was found to be a valid measure of masculinity and femininity, and (b) if a review of all BSRI traits indicated that a large portion of them no longer held differentiational power. This study concludes with a discussion of the BSRI'S relevance to various sex role theories, but specifically Bem's Gender Schema Theory as well as examining the plausibility of employing an hermeneutical approach along with empirical instruments. This discussion also includes data which were collected by administering the BSRI to a second sample of fifty undergraduate students from whom eight were selected to participate in follow-up interviews. The primary purpose of these interviews was to discover the exact methods employed by students in arriving at their self-ratings which, in turn, would shed light upon theoretical explanations.
Year of Submission
1988
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
First Advisor
Benjamin K. Crew
Second Advisor
Gene M. Lutz
Third Advisor
Thomas Keefe
Date Original
1988
Object Description
1 PDF file (118 leaves)
Copyright
©1988 Roger J. Eich
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Eich, Roger J., "The Measurement of Sex Role Identification: An Examination of the Internal Consistency of the Bem Sex Role Inventory and Its Relevance to Sex Role Therapy" (1988). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 2572.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/2572
Comments
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