Using SPSS to Understand Research and Data Analysis. | |||
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4.4 The First Set of Predictor Variables: Sex Role Identity and Gender As is often the case in research projects, we will obtain more than a single measurement related to sex role identity (how masculine or feminine a person perceives him/herself). In fact, we shall rely on 10 items on a questionnaire to assess this concept. Further, one's sex role identity is often related to one's gender - you might suppose, for example, that men are more likely to be masculine types, and women feminine types. As you will soon see, however, one's gender and sex role identity, though related, are not one and the same. Thus, we will need to measure gender as well as sex role identity.
Sandra Bem (1972) and others (e.g., Eagly, 1990) have conducted numerous investigations indicating that male and female traits, roles and behaviors in our culture are typically perceived in rather different and stereotypic ways. For example, men are generally thought to be assertive, independent, aggressive, decisive and unemotional, while women are seen as sympathetic, compassionate, understanding, nurturing, and emotional. Of course, these are stereotypes of men and women, and it is possible for a woman to be assertive and a man to be compassionate. However, studies have shown that most men and women perceive themselves in stereotypic ways. That is, a Sex-typed man would have a self-concept consisting of primarily masculine traits, and a sex-typed woman would perceive primarily feminine traits in herself. Despite the fact that most people think of themselves (and others) in stereotyped ways, Bem identified another category of men and women that she termed Androgynous in their sex role identity. Androgynous men and women are individuals who perceive themselves to have both masculine and feminine characteristics. Thus, for example, an androgynous man would see himself as both assertive and sympathetic, and an androgynous woman would see herself as both independent and compassionate. |
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