![Method
Participants for this study were 16 heterosexual, lower-middle and middle class Americans, 8
male and 8 female, age 20 – 33, all of whom reside on the West Coast. All but 2 participants are Caucasian
(other 2 participants were [1] Hispanic-American and [1] Asian-American) and all have engaged in a range
of sexual interactions, from kissing to intercourse.
In this study there were two surveys that were used to gather the information needed. The Bem
Sex Role Inventory was the first survey sent out and was used to identify each participant‟s gender role:
masculine, feminine, androgynous, or undifferentiated. The Bem Inventory was emailed with instructions
(without the scoring information – only the instructions and personality traits) to each participant. Upon
completion, each participant was asked to email this survey back with their personal scores bolded next to
each personality trait. Using the scoring rubric supplied with the original Bem survey, it was possible to
calculate which gender role each participant associated with. In addition, each participant was not informed
what gender role they were labeled as; it was a concern that this information may influence which responses
they chose in the Sexuality survey.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/micolefullerpowerpoint-120603164856-phpapp01/85/Gender-Roles-and-Sexual-Happiness-Powerpoint-8-320.jpg)
Gender Roles and Sexual Happiness Powerpoint
- 1. A Study Investigating Gender Roles and Sexual Happiness: Is There a Sexual Advantage to Androgyny? Micole McCarthy Fuller PSYC 203 – Human Sexuality April Kindrick June 2nd, 2012
- 2. Background Since the beginning of time, men and women have been subject to gender stereotypes. Often we are raised to understand how we should behave and what is appropriate for us based on our biological sex. This conditioning is called gender socialization and leads to people taking on certain traits that are stereotypically identified with either men or women. However, just because our biological sex says a man is male, it does not mean that he always adopts an overtly masculine gender role, and just because a woman is female, it doesn‟t mean that she is bursting with femininity. Depending on how we were raised, how we socialized, and whom we socialized with, we adopt different personality traits and develop our own gender role identification. This means that a man who was raised under the traditional standards that he must be independent and aggressive to really be a man will most likely adopt a primarily masculine gender role. However, if a different man was raised under the pretext that men can be nurturing and sensitive (both traits that are associated with women) he may adopt high levels of femininity. Similarly, if a woman is conditioned to believe that she can be just as strong and self sufficient (masculine traits) as a man, she will likely adopt high levels of masculinity. Additionally, there is not only feminine and masculine as gender roles. There are actually four different primary types of gender roles that people can be categorized into: masculine, feminine, androgynous (high levels of masculinity and femininity), and undifferentiated (low levels of masculinity and femininity). But how do we identify and categorize individuals into these gender roles?
- 3. In the early 1970‟s, social psychologist Sandra Bem created an inventory-survey that measures an individual‟s levels of feminine and masculine behavioral traits called the Bem Sex Role Inventory (Crooks & Baur, 2011). There have been many inventories, surveys, and questionnaires developed over the past few decades for identifying individuals‟ gender roles, however the Bem Sex Role Inventory remains one of the most reputable and well known. It is this inventory that will be used to identify gender roles in subjects for the primary upcoming research study. In Western civilization, going back centuries, we can see many of the same suppressing stereotypical norms that we condition our children to believe today; for example, women are restricted as homemakers and to be the primary nurturers for children, while men are conditioned to never cry nor show signs of weakness as they must be the backbone and breadwinners of the family. However, over the past few decades we have seen many disagreements and movements against such suppressing stereotypes. Women are being encouraged to step into the workforce and develop careers, and many men are beginning to accept the notion of being stay-at-home fathers and the primary nurturers of their children. Stepping away from these stereotypical cultural norms, many people are beginning to appreciate the value of being able to possess both masculine and feminine traits so they can lead more enriched and well-rounded lives. However, there are still many people who swear by the traditional standards of „men as masculine‟ and „women as feminine‟. So as the knowledge of different gender roles becomes more widespread and researched, a popular question has arisen: Is one gender role more ideal than the others? The forthcoming study will actually take this query one step further and ask the question: Is one gender role (androgyny) more ideal regarding sexuality and sexual interactions than the others (masculinity, femininity, and undifferentiated)?
- 4. Individuals who score as primarily feminine or primarily masculine on the Bem Sex Role Inventory are more attuned to culturally acceptable and sex-appropriate behaviors (Miller et al., 2009). And while these individuals may associate themselves with such “appropriate” and widely accepted standards, they are also putting themselves under the pressure of working within cultural norms and are therefore under more pressure to behave as is considered suitable by traditional – and somewhat conservative – Western society. They are restricted to only behaving in the dated and limited ways of their one-sided gender. In example, if a primarily feminine woman is curious to know the feeling of being assertive and aggressive sexually and would like to initiate sexual relations with her partner, a deep-seated feeling of discomfort and improperness may overwhelm and dissuade her from ever making such an attempt. Eventually this could lead to a feeling of redundancy and boredom in her sexuality and sexual intercourse, as she is restricted to minimal and traditionally valued behaviors. This rather inevitable feeling of redundancy is not limited to primarily feminine women. Overtly masculine men are just as susceptible to such a feeling; they are also less likely to be open to trying new things (unlike an androgynous individual) as they are pinned down to their traditional masculine traits. For example, most masculine men are conditioned to believe that it is a man‟s job to be sexually aggressive and proactive. If such a masculine man encounters an androgynous woman as a sexual partner and this woman tries to be the aggressive initiator in the sexual intercourse, while she may feel satisfied and enjoy the experience, she may have inadvertently made her masculine counterpart feel emasculated and “turned off” sexually. Here we see how this masculine man‟s unyielding traits have deprived him of the chance to openly enjoy a new sexual experience.
- 5. There have been multiple studies that look into the many aspects of androgyny. Many discuss how androgynous individuals can more easily adapt and respond appropriately to the current situation they find themselves in compared to their feminine, masculine, and undifferentiated counterparts. This is usually because androgynous individuals have been raised to adapt to situations accordingly and to not allow sex-based stereotypes keep them from doing what makes them happy. This is why they can embody both masculine traits and feminine traits: they were conditioned to believe that just because you are a certain sex, doesn‟t mean that you can‟t enjoy the same things as the other sex. For example: girls can be feminine, but if they think that going outside and getting rough and dirty would be most enjoyable for themselves, they should pursue that. However, that doesn‟t mean that in that same day they can‟t also enjoy wearing pretty jewelry and make- up, or behave gracefully. Similarly, androgynous values can testify that, just because a man is male, it doesn‟t mean that he has to be tough and aggressive all of the time, and it is absolutely fine for a man to show signs of compassion and sensitivity when the apposite moment calls for it.
- 6. Going forward, as androgynous individuals are more likely to adapt to appropriate behavior in varying circumstances, it can be argued that sexual intercourse can be a more fulfilling experience as the androgynous person will be able to respond to their partner‟s needs – and their own needs – aptly, whether it consist of aggressive or tender behavior. Additionally, as they have been taught to do what makes them happiest and feels natural to themselves and the situation, these individuals are more likely to be most confident in their sexuality and promiscuity. Furthermore, there has been research that concluded that androgynous individuals are more innately creative (Stoltzfus et al., 2011) and, in a study on attractiveness, opposite-sex androgynous subjects were deemed as more desirable; this could be due to the fact that androgyny is often related to high self-esteem and good heath (Woodhill & Samuels, 2004). Additionally, in another study androgynous individuals were found to be among the highest to score in sensual and emotional categories (Miller et al., 2009). Using this background information regarding the positive and liberating aspects of androgyny, supported by multiple scholarly articles, I went on to examine the theory that androgynous individuals enjoy their sexuality and overall sexual intercourse more so than feminine, masculine, and undifferentiated individuals. Following is the information and the results I gathered while conducting the study.
- 7. Hypothesis This study‟s focus is to investigate the responses of individuals from each gender role to determine which gender role has the highest levels of sexual happiness. From previous research, this study hypothesizes that androgynous individuals enjoy their sexuality and sexual behavior more than masculine, feminine, and undifferentiated individuals.
- 8. Method Participants for this study were 16 heterosexual, lower-middle and middle class Americans, 8 male and 8 female, age 20 – 33, all of whom reside on the West Coast. All but 2 participants are Caucasian (other 2 participants were [1] Hispanic-American and [1] Asian-American) and all have engaged in a range of sexual interactions, from kissing to intercourse. In this study there were two surveys that were used to gather the information needed. The Bem Sex Role Inventory was the first survey sent out and was used to identify each participant‟s gender role: masculine, feminine, androgynous, or undifferentiated. The Bem Inventory was emailed with instructions (without the scoring information – only the instructions and personality traits) to each participant. Upon completion, each participant was asked to email this survey back with their personal scores bolded next to each personality trait. Using the scoring rubric supplied with the original Bem survey, it was possible to calculate which gender role each participant associated with. In addition, each participant was not informed what gender role they were labeled as; it was a concern that this information may influence which responses they chose in the Sexuality survey.
- 9. After receiving all completed Bem Inventory surveys, each participant was sent instructions and web page links to the primary, multiple-choice and ranking-choice (from “Strongly Disagree” to “Strongly Agree”), 44-question survey, created by this researcher, titled Sexuality and Sexual Behavior. This survey was broken into three parts (as the website used to create the survey only allowed 20 questions per survey created) and each part of the survey was labeled Sexuality and Sexual Behavior 1, Sexuality and Sexual Behavior 2, and Sexuality and Sexual Behavior 3. The questions in this survey all related to, and were broken down into, 5 different sub-categories that are believed to equal/lead to overall sexual happiness: Personal Confidence, Sexual Confidence, Sexual Satisfaction, Adaptability/Adventurous, and Aggressive Sexual Attitude. Upon receiving the completed Sexuality surveys, participant‟s responses were gathered and their scores calculated for each sub-category, as well as for their overall score on the survey (explained more in Results section).
- 10. Results Most participants were labeled as undifferentiated or masculine upon taking the Bem Sex Role Inventory, with only a few leftover as feminine or androgynous: 5 undifferentiated participants, 2 feminine participants, 6 masculine participants, and 3 androgynous participants. I gave each answer for each question on the Sexuality survey a number to tally up to a score. The more positive, adventurous, confident or satisfied the answer seemed to be the higher the numerical score. This made it possible to create numerical scorings for the overall survey and for each sub-category of the survey. I then used these accumulative scorings – mainly by utilizing the mean (M) of the scores – to discern which gender role appears to enjoy sexuality and sexual interactions the most. It should be noted that some sub-categories of the Sexuality survey have higher scores than the others, which is due to certain sub-categories having more questions than the others (therefore, higher overall scores). My hypothesis clearly states that I believe androgynous individuals enjoy sexuality and sexual interactions the most, and I was very confident on this notion. However, while androgynous individuals did score quite high on this survey, masculine individuals (both male and female) overall scored the highest (Masculine: M = 150.5, Median = 149; Feminine: M = 138.5, Median = 138.5; Androgynous: M = 143.33, Median = 143; and Undifferentiated: M = 138.8, Median = 138).
- 11. On the other hand, upon breaking down the survey, and scores, into the smaller sub-categories that are believed to make up sexual happiness, it was interesting to see that masculine participants didn‟t score highest in every category: Personal Confidence: Masculine: M = 12.33, Median = 11.5, Mode = 11; Feminine: M = 9.5, Median = 9.5, Mode = N/A; Androgynous: M = 11.66, Median = 13, Mode = N/A; and Undifferentiated: M = 12.4, Median = 12, Mode = 12). Sexual Confidence: Masculine: M = 40.5, Median = 40.5, Mode = N/A; Feminine: M = 38, Median = 38, Mode = 38; Androgynous: M = 37.66, Median = 38, Mode = N/A; and Undifferentiated: M = 34, Median = 38, Mode = 38. Sexual Satisfaction: Masculine: M = 33, Median = 32.5, Mode = 32, 33; Feminine: M = 29.5, Median = 29.5, Mode = N/A; Androgynous: M = 35, Median = 34, Mode = 34; and Undifferentiated: M = 31, Median = 33, Mode = 33. Adaptability/Adventurous: Masculine: M = 48.66, Median = 48, Mode = 48; Feminine: M = 44, Median = 44, Mode = N/A; Androgynous: M = 44.33, Median = 46, Mode = N/A; and Undifferentiated: M = 46.4, Median = 33, Mode = N/A. Aggressive Sexual Attitude: Masculine: M = 16, Median = 16, Mode = 15, 16, 17; Feminine: M = 14.5, Median = 14.5, Mode = N/A; Androgynous: M = 15.33, Median = 16, Mode = 16; and Undifferentiated: M = 15, Median = 15, Mode = N/A.
- 12. While the first graph, Gender Roles and Sexual Happiness, depicts the overall scores from the Sexuality and Sexual Behavior survey (showing clearly that masculine participants accumulated the highest overall score), the Gender Roles and Sexual Happiness Traits graph on the previous slide clearly depicts the lowest and highest scores for each gender role in each sub-category in the Sexuality survey. It can be seen that masculine participants scored highest in 3 out of the 5 categories, coming in second once to androgynous participants in Sexual Satisfaction, and second once to, somewhat surprisingly, undifferentiated participants in Personal Confidence. (These results will be discussed more in the Discussion section).
- 13. Discussion In the beginning, as the Sexuality survey results started pouring in, it wasn’t very clear which gender role was coming in the lead as far as the highest score(s). At first it seemed that there was no major pattern developing between gender role and sexual happiness. However, once all of the Sexuality survey results were put together, scored and ranked, and then listed from lowest overall score (122) to highest overall score (164), a discernable pattern could be seen. The lowest scores consisted of undifferentiated participants and then feminine participants, while the higher scores were mostly made up of masculine participants and then androgynous participants (with the occasional anomaly of an undifferentiated participant’s survey popping up here and there in the mid-high scores). If this had been the ultimate method of discerning which gender role had scored highest and lowest, the rankings would have appeared as follows: 1st place (highest) = Masculine, 2nd place = Androgynous, 3rd place = Feminine, 4th place = Undifferentiated. And while these results closely match the mean score results, when using the mean scores to calculate highest to lowest scores, undifferentiated participants would have scored second lowest, and feminine participants would have scored lowest (as can be seen on the Gender Roles and Sexual Happiness graph).
- 14. Focusing a little more on this topic, one of the more interesting things noticed in this study was the unpredictability of undifferentiated individuals. For example, while undifferentiated participants had some of the lowest scores yielded from the Sexuality survey, their mean score for the sub-category Personal Confidence was the highest of all gender roles and was .07 “points” higher than masculine participants‟ (who took the lead in this study overall). Additionally, if we go off of only the mean scores from each gender role group, undifferentiated participants seem to take the lead over feminine participants. However, when lining up all of the overall scores from lowest to highest – incorporating all gender roles‟ survey results – most undifferentiated individuals were among the lowest scores, with only two of the undifferentiated participants scoring in the mid-high survey scores (which were primarily made up of masculine and androgynous individuals). It is believed that this could be the result of having such a small number and range of participants. In a larger study, these undifferentiated “anomalies” would probably have raised less red- flags than they did in a small study such as this one, as there would have been more androgynous and feminine participants than there were available and included in this study. In the future, researchers could first have a very large number of individuals take the Bem Sex Role Inventory, and then use only the individuals they need to add up to an equal number of participants associated with each gender role (i.e. 20 feminine, 20 masculine, 20 androgynous, and 20 undifferentiated). A larger study such as this would most likely yield clearer and more concrete results.
- 15. Finally, the last concern for any inaccuracies in this study was the fact that the Sexuality and Sexual Behavior survey was not anonymous. While only two participants mentioned anything about the “personal and private” nature of this survey (and having to supply their names) as being somewhat uncomfortable – though they promised to answer honestly – it was a major concern overall. Unfortunately, the requirement of names for the Sexuality survey was imperative for the ability to correlate participants‟ survey answers and scores with their assigned and notated gender role. It had been considered to inform each participant of their gender role upon completing their Bem Inventory survey and then having them supply their assigned gender role instead of their names. However, it was also a concern that, for example, by telling a male participant that he was masculine, he might be inclined to choose only answers in the Sexuality survey that appeared to be of a masculine nature, instead of choosing the answers that seemed instinctively truthful for himself. Additionally, while the two participants did voice their concern about the private nature of the questions in the Sexuality survey, it was mostly out of concern that others would not be so willing to be forthright and completely honest in their answers. However, each participant was asked after taking the Sexuality survey if they found it to be uncomfortable, and each of them said “not at all”. But even so, “Do I like to have what done where?! if this study was ever to be repeated, it may be prudent to find a way to have Well that‟s much too private!!” the Sexuality survey be anonymous.
- 16. Moving forward, it should be noted that some people may claim that the Sexual Satisfaction category in the Sexuality and Sexual Behavior survey should have more established scores and taken more seriously than the other categories in this survey, as it appears to correlate most directly with the final purpose of this investigation (who enjoys sexuality and sexual behavior the most). However, the other four sub-categories in this survey seem to be equally important to determining which gender role has the highest level of sexual happiness – thus enjoying sexuality and sexual interactions the most. These other categories are especially important when using a survey (such as the Sexuality survey) where the scores are based on the participant‟s personal determinations and opinions of themselves to configure and deduce the results of such a study, especially when it is the only method used to make a conclusion. Ergo, it does not have any additional support from other study methods such as experiments or direct participant observations. This is not to say that Sexual Satisfaction isn‟t overtly important to this survey and study, just that it‟s not the only category to consider. Additionally, it might be noteworthy to comment that in this category, androgynous individuals did score the highest – suggesting that my hypothesis might not have been 100% inaccurate. On another note, it was, interestingly enough, assumed from previous background research that masculine individuals (particularly masculine men) might have a more difficult time allowing their partner to take charge in sexual situations. However, from the overwhelming response of “Agree” or “Strongly Agree” to questions such as question #32 on the Sexuality survey: “I am comfortable allowing a/my partner to take charge in a sexual situations (from kissing to intercourse)”, its become quite clear that not a single individual had an issue with their partner taking charge in a sexual situation – not even the most overtly masculine participants.
- 17. As for the final results of this study, I believe that perhaps those traits that allow an androgynous individual to adapt to different situations with either feminine or masculine positive responses and actions, may also allow them to respond in a negatively feminine or masculine way, and that this may have lead to some of the lower sexual happiness scores – for more information on the concept of negative androgyny, refer to the article Desirable and Undesirable Androgyny: A Prescription For The Twenty-First Century by Brenda Mae Woodhill & Curtis A. Samuels. Additionally, androgynous individuals have been known to be more sensitive to others‟ needs (such as their partner‟s), which is often considered a very good trait to possess, but may also have lead to their lower scores on the Sexuality survey (the same goes for both feminine and undifferentiated participant scores, as this is a personality trait they all share). Therefore, while masculine individuals have been known to be more assertive and self-focused, androgynous individuals are most likely paying more attention to their partner‟s needs than their masculine counterparts are. At times this could be a positive thing for they could share in their partner‟s sexual happiness; however, if their partner is having issues with their own sexuality and feelings about sexual activity, it could impede the androgynous individual‟s personal feelings of happiness in regards to their sexuality and sexual interactions. This leads to another important thought to consider: that, while gender role may play a large part in an individual‟s sexual happiness and satisfaction, there are many other aspects of a person‟s life (current relationship status; personal, romantic, and emotional well-being; etc.) that may influence current sexual well-being and enjoyment.
- 18. In the end, while this study may disprove my hypothesis, it still shows that androgynous individuals do have high levels of sexual happiness, coming in only second to masculine individuals. That being said, while masculine individuals didn‟t score the highest (according to mean scores) in every sub-category of the Sexuality and Sexual Behavior survey, they did score the highest in 3 of the 5 sub-categories (and never got lower than the second highest score). They also had the highest scores when “ranking” lowest overall score to highest overall score among all gender roles and survey results, and had the highest (mean) overall score on the Sexuality survey. As partially stated above, this is probably because, according to the Bem Inventory and previous studies, masculine individuals possess the most traits that will aid them in acquiring what they want and what makes them happiest (both sexually and in life altogether). Overall, this information and this study‟s results give me the confidence to conclude for now that masculine individuals seem to enjoy their sexuality and sexual behavior more than other gender roles. In the future, however, it would be nice to repeat this study with a larger number, and wider variety, of participants – for the results may be more accurate, irrefutable, and possibly different than this small study‟s results.
- 19. Resources Crooks, R., and Baur, K., Our Sexuality. 11th ed. Belmont: Wadsworth, 2011. Print. 143. Dohi, I., Yamada, F., & Asada, H. (2001). The Relationship Between Masculinity and the Type A Behavior Pattern: the Moderating Effects of Femininity. Japanese Psychological Research, 43(2), 91. Miller, N. B., Falk, R., & Yinmei, H. (2009). Gender Identity and the Overexcitability Profiles of Gifted College Students. Roeper Review, 31(3), 161-169. doi:10.1080/02783190902993920 Stoltzfus, G., Nibbelink, B., Vredenburg, D., & Thyrum, E. (2011). Gender, Gender Role, and Creativity. Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal, 39(3), 425-432. doi:10.2224/sbp.2011.39.3.425 Tolman, D. L., Impett, E. A., Tracy, A. J., & Michael, A. (2006). Looking Good, Sounding Good: Femininity Ideology and Adolescent Girls‟ Mental Health. Psychology Of Women Quarterly, 30(1), 85-95. doi:10.1111/j.1471- 6402.2006.00265.x Woodhill, B., & Samuels, C. A. (2004). Desirable and Undesirable Androgyny: A Prescription For The Twenty-First Century. Journal Of Gender Studies, 13(1), 15-28. doi:10.1080/0958923032000184943
- 20. Surveys Below are the two surveys I used for this study: The Bem Sex Role Inventory (with scoring rubric) and the primary Sexuality and Sexual Behavior survey I created. BEM SEX ROLE INVENTORY Rate yourself on each item, on a scale from 1 (never or almost never true) to 7 (almost always true). When you have completed the inventory, transfer your ratings to the inventory score sheet.
- 21. Bem
- 22. Sexuality and Sexual Behavior Survey Here are the three links for the Sexuality and Sexual Behavior survey (copy and past URL into your browser‟s URL box): Sexuality and Sexual Behavior (part 1) http://fluidsurveys.com/surveys/micolemf/sexuality-and-sexual-behavior/ Sexuality and Sexual Behavior (part 2) http://fluidsurveys.com/surveys/micolemf/sexuality-and-sexual-behavior- 2/ Sexuality and Sexual Behavior (part 3) http://fluidsurveys.com/surveys/micolemf/sexuality-and-sexual-behavior- 3/ Note: If you would like to review my 12-page scoring document for this survey (complete with color-coded breakdown of each sub-category and red numerical scores next to each answer), please let me know.