Extending the Legacy of Sandra Bem: Psychological Androgyny as a Touchstone Conceptual Advance for the Study of Gender in Psychological Science

The Intergenerational Transmission of Gender Roles: Evidence From Parents and Children in Single-Parent

Given the current increases in the divorce rate and the number of single-parent families, the development of gender roles among children from single-parent families has received more and more attention. This study investigated how single parents influenced the formation of their children's gender roles and family-related factors that benefited the development of gender roles in single-parent children. Through in-depth interviews with 24 pairs of parents and children from single-parent families, we investigated single parents' and their children's cognition on gender roles, parents' parenting attitudes and behaviors during their children's gender role development, and communication and interaction between parents and children. Results showed intergenerational consistency in the gender role concepts of parents and their children in single-parent families. However, the children's gender role concepts were not completely and directly inherited from their parents, and could be affected by their subjective initiative. Additionally, single parenting did not necessarily negatively impact children's gender role development, which depends on their parent's parenting style. The study's limitations are discussed, and future directions for in-depth research are suggested.

21st Century Neo-Androgyny: What Is Androgyny Anymore and Why We Should Still Care

The notion of psychological androgyny as a research tool loiters on in an incapacitated state. The lack of a general theory and the belief that the biological gender differences are insignificant to non-existent has been the seeds for its de-construction. Over the decades, the testing of ideas associated with androgyny has declined. Indeed, the debates over its usefulness as a construct ended long ago. The judgment nowadays is that debating the constructs of masculinity, femininity, and androgyny as behavioral traits has been long settled, and a contemporary revisiting of androgyny is not warranted. However, from another contemporary viewpoint, if androgyny is to have any future, it needs a new theory devoid of masculinity and femininity. We present a novel theory with the potential to do just that. This article details a new de-gendered theory of psychological androgyny, neo-androgyny, as a candidate to replace traditional models that are now considered outdated and irrelevant. We present five potential factors for inclusion in a de-gendered model: social efficacy, creativity, capability, eminence, and determination. We review these factors concerning the future of androgyny theory.

Gender Identification Beyond the Binary and Its Consequences for Social Well-Being

Recent societal initiatives (e.g., gender-neutral toilets, clothing, and language) highlight the ongoing shift of gender away from binary categories: "man" and "woman." We identified and investigated two reasons for this shift: that many people may not identify with strictly binary categories and that this may have negative social consequences. Employing a multiple-identification model, we measured intergroup self-categorization with both men and women (Studies 1 and 2), as well as with a "third gender" (Study 3) and investigated how multiple identifications are related to social well-being (Studies 2 and 3). In Study 1 (N = 182, mean age = 32.74, 121 women), we found that a binary model was not the best fit for our gender identification data. In Study 2 (N = 482, mean age = 30.98, 240 AFABs), we found four clusters of gender identification, replicating previous research. Furthermore, we found that gender non-conforming participants reported being less able to be their authentic selves than binary participants. We also found that participants who identified lowly with both binary genders reported lower well-being in general (belongingness, self-esteem, life satisfaction, positive affect). In Study 3 (N = 280, mean age = 36.97, 140 AFABs), we found that asking about a third gender seemed to change how much participants reported identifying with men and women. We also found that gender non-conforming participants reported lower authenticity, belongingness, and self-esteem. We conclude that moving away from binary categories of gender may be beneficial to many non-conforming people of different nationalities, including cisgender, heterosexual people.

Exploring new tendencies of gender and health in university students

In light of the impact of gender roles on health, the aims of the present study are (1) to assess the associations between femininity/masculinity and gender typologies, and health indicators (mental health, wellbeing, and self-perceived health) and (2) to identify patterns of gender roles and health indicators, thus exploring new tendencies in gender and health in Spanish university students in the framework of the androgyny model. The sample was made up of 795 university students from Madrid and Toledo. Data collection was completed during 2019. Measures of self-rated health, mental health (GHQ12), and wellbeing (MHC-SF) were considered as health indicators, while the Bem Sex Roles Inventory (BSRI) was used to measure gender roles. Multilevel analysis was employed to value associations between masculinity and femininity and gender typologies with self-rated health, mental health, and wellbeing. Furthermore, cluster analysis was used to explore general tendencies in gender roles and health, while also considering biological sex composition. The best predictor of mental health was found to be masculinity, rather than femininity. Cluster analysis showed a dominance of androgyny and undifferentiated typologies with proportionally similar biological sex composition. Results confirmed the androgyny model, highlighting the role of androgyny and masculinity as protective factors of mental health. Cluster analysis suggested less gender-typed individuals and more flexible ways of adapting to gender roles in university students. Health systems, governments, and public institutions must take these results into account when designing health prevention and intervention policies. Social agents, educators, and the media must also collaborate in the achievement of equalitarian gender roles, which could result in a minimization of gender-related health differences.

Encouraging Gender Conformity or Sanctioning Nonconformity? Felt Pressure from Parents, Peers, and the Self

Expectations regarding gendered behaviors are understood to emanate from many sources, including parents, peers, and the self but there has been little research directly comparing these three sources of pressure. The present study assessed felt pressure regarding masculine and feminine stereotypic behaviors and compared pressure from parents, peers, and the self and how these sources are associated with self-perceived gender typicality. Participants (N = 275; 53.09% female; grade 7 M = 12.35 years; grade 9 M = 14.3 years; 71% Anglo-Celtic) were recruited from independent schools in Sydney. Felt pressure from the self to engage in masculine behavior was greater than felt pressure from parents or peers. Male adolescents reported higher felt pressure to conform to gender conforming behavior from parents and the self and pressure to avoid gender nonconforming behavior was greatest from peers. Female adolescents reported felt pressure to conform to gender nonconforming behaviors and this pressure was the strongest from the self. Additionally, for both genders, felt pressure from the self was most consistently associated with gender typicality. These findings highlight the importance of self-expectations for gender cognitions relating to both masculine and feminine behaviors.

Sex-Specific Functional Connectivity in the Reward Network Related to Distinct Gender Roles

Gender roles are anti-dichotomous and malleable social constructs that should theoretically be constructed independently from biological sex. However, it is unclear whether and how the factor of sex is related to neural mechanisms involved in social constructions of gender roles. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate sex specificity in gender role constructions and the corresponding underlying neural mechanisms. We measured gender role orientation using the Bem Sex-Role Inventory, used a voxel-based global brain connectivity method based on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging to characterize the within-network connectivity in the brain reward network, and analyzed how the integration of the reward network is related to gender role scores between sex groups. An omnibus analysis of voxel-wise global brain connectivity values within a two-level linear mixed model revealed that in female participants, femininity scores were positively associated with integration in the posterior orbitofrontal cortex and subcallosal cortex, whereas masculinity scores were positively associated with integration in the frontal pole. By contrast, in male participants, masculinity was negatively correlated with integration in the nucleus accumbens and subcallosal cortex. For the first time, the present study revealed the sex-specific neural mechanisms underlying distinct gender roles, which elucidates the process of gender construction from the perspective of the interaction between reward sensitivity and social reinforcement.

Psychometric Properties of the Multifaceted Gender-Related Attributes Survey (GERAS)

Since the 1920s, psychologists have sought to assess the sex- and gender-related attributes of men and women, including primarily aspects of personality and focusing on positive characteristics. In this paper, we introduce a new questionnaire for assessing gender-related attributes with a broader approach than provided by previous ones. Therefore, the questionnaire includes (a) not only personality traits but also cognitions and interests and (b) not only positive but also negative and neutral characteristics. Two independent datasets were acquired (Study 1: N = 1,466; Study 2: N = 471) for development and psychometric analyses. Factor analysis confirmed a hierarchical structure with two separate dimensions of masculinity and femininity overarching the multiple first-order domains of personality, cognition, and interests. Analyses of reliability and convergence with other gender identity and personality scales revealed sufficient values. The new instrument discriminated between the biological sexes and was related to the gender quotas in participants' occupations and social environments, thus providing evidence for criterion-related validity. Therefore, we propose the Gender-Related Attributes Survey (GERAS) as a useful tool for objectively assessing gender-related attributes across multiple facets in gender and sex-difference research.

Papéis Sexuais, Amor e Satisfação Conjugal em Indivíduos Heterossexuais e Homossexuais

Resumo A experiência do amor entre pessoas do mesmo sexo ainda é percebida numa ótica social estigmatizante. Na tentativa de contribuir com a discussão dessa questão, neste estudo, foram geradas evidências de validade e fidedignidade para o Bem Sex Role Inventory - reduzido por meio da análise dos escores de 331 indivíduos heterossexuais e homossexuais, de ambos os sexos, que coabitavam com seus parceiros amorosos há pelo menos um ano no Rio de Janeiro/RJ. Também foi realizada uma análise confirmatória da Escala Triangular do Amor - reduzida, que revelou bom ajuste do modelo e invariância de medida para homossexuais e heterossexuais. Além disso, foram verificadas as relações entre orientação sexual, papéis sexuais, amor e satisfação conjugal. A intimidade e o compromisso no amor foram os melhores preditores da satisfação conjugal para ambos os grupos. Foram encontradas algumas evidências que questionam os estereótipos sociais vinculados às relações amorosas de pessoas de mesmo sexo.

Sexual Fantasies and Stereotypical Gender Roles: The Influence of Sexual Orientation, Gender and Social Pressure in a Sample of Italian Young-Adults

Differences in gender and sexual orientation are suggested to be linked to differences in the way individuals think and behave. The aim of the current study is to evaluate the effect of gender and sexual orientation on sexual fantasies and gender roles in heterosexual and gay and lesbian people. The sample was composed of 547 participants, 246 men (M_age = 28.85; SD = 9,27) and 301 women (M_age = 25,97; SD = 7,141). Within this sample, 61.8% of men and 79.4% of women were heterosexual, whereas 38.2% of men and 20.6% of women were gay and lesbian. Participants completed an online battery of questionnaires to assess their sexual orientation, sexual fantasies, and gender roles on three different dimensions. It was hypothesized that the heterosexual group would report more normative sexual fantasies (H1) and that women in general would report androgynous characteristics, which would be linked to a low degree of reported feminine ideal roles and high social pressure to conform to feminine social expectations (H2). The results showed that lesbian women scored slightly higher than heterosexual women on transgressive sexual fantasies and lower on emotional-romantic ones. Moreover, heterosexual women, but not lesbian women, showed a pattern of high social pressure to conform to feminine expectations together with lower scores in the IRQ. We found the same results on gay men but not for heterosexual men. The overall results suggest that sexual fantasies and gender roles are relatively independent concepts and are influenced by different mechanisms.

Gender and financing in entrepreneurship: research evidence from China

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate ways to mitigate gender bias in entrepreneurial financing. The authors aim to unveil the role entrepreneurs’ gender played in formal and informal financing under Chinese context, as well as the moderating role corporate social responsibility (CSR) played in such relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper adopts ANOVA test and multiple regression method to empirically examine the relationship of entrepreneurs’ gender, formal financing, informal financing and CSR with second hand data from The Eleventh Private Enterprise Survey covering a sample of firms across China.

Findings

The results demonstrate that comparing to start-ups led by men, start-ups led by women are less likely to get either formal or informal financing. The results also suggest that CSR negatively moderates the impact entrepreneurs’ gender has on formal financing but not on informal financing.

Originality/value

By focusing on both formal and informal financing, the research of gender’s effects on firms’ financing has been extended. Also, by proving that CSR can help to mitigate gender bias in formal financing, contribution has also been made to the research field of gender financing. This paper contributes to the CSR literature by sorting out another benefit CSR has in new venture financing. Overall, findings of this study deepen the existing understanding of gender issues in the context of entrepreneurial financing.

Facilitating and Inhibiting Factors for Self-Reports of Same-Gender Attraction in Cisgender Heterosexual-Identifying Women and Men

We sought to identify psychosocial predictors of homoerotic motivations (viz., same-gender attraction) in heterosexual identifying cisgender women and men. We recruited participants from Amazon's Mechanical Turk to complete measures of (a) antipathy towards lesbians and gay men, (b) gender role beliefs, (c) felt-pressure to conform to gender stereotypes, and (d) openness to experience. In Study 1, we found that same-gender attraction was (a) negatively related to antipathy towards same-gender homosexual targets and (b) positively related to felt-pressure to conform to gender stereotypes for both women and men. In Study 2, both effects replicated for men at p < .05, but women only showed the antipathy effect at p < .05, even while the felt-pressure effect size was similar to that in Study 1. Additionally, men showed a significant negative relationship between openness and same-gender attraction. Thus, both anti-gay attitudes and felt-pressure to conform to gender stereotypes appear to be reliably associated with same-gender attraction.

The Gendered Self of Chinese Lesbians: Self-Esteem as a Mediator Between Gender Roles and Depression

Sexual minority women are at an elevated risk for depression compared to heterosexual women, yet less is known about how gender roles affect the mental health of sexual minority women. Existing studies examining the role of self-esteem in the relationship between gender roles and depression are scarce and have predominantly focused on heterosexual populations. Using a cross-sectional survey of Chinese lesbians in Hong Kong (N = 438), the study tested the direct and indirect effects of different types of gender roles (masculine, feminine, and androgynous) on depression through the mediating factor of self-esteem. We found that masculinity and androgyny were positively associated with self-esteem, while femininity was negatively associated with self-esteem. More importantly, self-esteem fully mediated the inverse relationship between masculinity and depression and that between androgyny and depression. The positive relationship between femininity and depression was also fully mediated by self-esteem. By examining different types of gender roles and incorporating gender roles, self-esteem, and depression into a unified framework, the research highlighted the particularly protective effect of androgyny, which had the strongest positive direct effect on self-esteem and indirect effect on depression through the mediation of self-esteem compared to the effects of other types of gender roles. Our results illuminate the importance of understanding how individual differences in gender roles relate to the mental health of sexual minority women in future research and interventions. Implications for interventions that help Chinese lesbians cope with gender expectations and improve their mental health are discussed.

Gender traits in relation to work versus career salience

Orientation: The concepts of work- and career-role salience are used interchangeably, yet work focuses on the short-term aspect and career on the long-term aspect.Research purpose: We utilised gender traits, that is, masculinity, femininity and psychological androgyny, to find greater nuances in the salience of work versus career roles. We also set out to confirm the adapted factor structure of the revised Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI).Motivation for the study: Generally, self-reported sex is used to determine differences in role salience between men and women, as opposed to considering the gender roles people associate with.Research approach/design and method: A sample of 395 South African employees was used. Structural equation modelling and t-tests were applied.Main findings: We confirmed work- and career-role salience as distinct constructs. The factor structure of the revised BSRI holds for this study. With regard to gender traits, femininity decreased work-role salience, while psychological androgyny increased work-role salience. Masculinity had a direct effect on work-role salience while indirectly influencing career-role salience through work-role salience. Women were found to be significantly more feminine and psychologically androgynous than men.Practical/managerial implications: Utilising gender traits may have greater career guidance relevance for individuals than traditional approaches utilising differences between the sexes.Contribution/value-add: This study confirmed that work and career roles are to be viewed as separate constructs and that people may view the importance placed on work- and career-role salience differently. The study further contributes by including gender traits as a significant contributor to role salience.

Halloween Costume Choices: Reflections of Gender Development in Early Childhood

The author examined whether preschoolers' Halloween costume choices reflect their gender development. The sample consisted of 110 (53 boys, 57 girls) infant through preschool-aged participants, and 1 parent of each child. Both observational methodologies and parent-report surveys were used to assess the gender-typed nature of children's Halloween costumes, information about the Halloween costume choice process, and about the children's gender development. Boys' costumes were more masculine and girls' costumes were more feminine. Younger children's costumes were consistently less gender typed than the older children's costumes were. Children whose parents chose their Halloween costumes for them had Halloween costumes that were less gender typed than did children who were involved in the Halloween costume decision-making process. Moreover, children's gender-typed play and desire to wear gender-stereotyped clothes were related to the gender stereotyped nature of their Halloween costume. Unexpectedly, gender typicality, a dimension of gender identity, was not related to children's Halloween costume choices. Overall, the findings support that children's Halloween costume choice is an indicator of children's gender development processes.