Negative attributes are gendered too: Conceptualizing and measuring positive and negative facets of sex‐role identity

Abstract

Measures of gender identity have almost exclusively relied on positive aspects of masculinity and femininity, although conceptually the self-concept is not limited to positive attributes. A theoretical argument is made for considering negative attributes of gender identity, followed by five studies developing the Positive-Negative Sex-Role Inventory (PN-SRI) as a new measure of gender identity. Study 1 demonstrated that many of the attributes of a German version of the Bem Sex-Role Inventory are no longer considered to differ in desirability for men and women. For the PN-SRI, Study 2 elicited attributes characterizing men and women in today's society, for which ratings of typicality and desirability as well as self-ratings by men and women were obtained in Study 3. Study 4 examined the reliability and factorial structure of the four subscales of positive and negative masculinity and femininity and demonstrated the construct and discriminant validity of the PN-SRI by showing that the negative masculinity and femininity scales were unique predictors of select validation constructs. Study 5 showed that the new instrument explained variance in the validation constructs beyond earlier measures of gender identity. Key message: Even in the construction of negative aspects of gender identity, individuals prefer gender-congruent attributes. Negative masculinity and femininity make a unique contribution to understanding gender-related differences in psychological outcome variables.

The Positive and Negative Valence of Gender in Traditional and Non-Traditional Career Choices

“…Internal consistency for the scale was good (Berger & Krahé, 2013), for both the total sample and women and men separately. Alpha coefficients ranged from α = .73 to .88.…”

“…Separate groups of participants were asked to rate themselves on a selection of the items, as well as the typicality and desirability of the items. Femininity) fit the data well (Berger & Krahé, 2013).…”

“…In fact, gender is one of the aspects of identity that is most frequently used to differentiate among individuals. People incorporate gender into their self-concept beginning at a young age (Berger & Krahé, 2013). As a result, gender is likely to impact the ways in which one interacts with the world, how other people respond to the person, and other factors such as career choice (Egan & Perry, 2001;Bussey & Bandura, 1999).…”

“…Other researchers, in measures of femininity and masculinity, have begun to specifically address both positive and negative aspects of the constructs. Berger and Krahé (2013) noted that the inclusion of femininity and masculinity into our self-concept requires that we accommodate both positive and negative aspects of ourselves as related to these constructs, even though we may prefer to focus on our positive traits. These researchers developed a measure called the Positive-Negative Sex-Role Inventory (PN-SRI).…”

“…In addition, covariates representing sexism and conservatism (right-wing authoritarianism and religious fundamentalism) were included to determine their impact. Participants were 509 university students who completed questionnaires and a sorting activity in which they assigned feminine and masculine traits from the Bem Sex Role Inventory (Bem, 1981), the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (Spence & Helmreich, 1978), and the Positive-Negative Sex Role Inventory (Berger & Krahé, 2013) to occupational descriptions representing the RIASEC types.…”