User:Irodriguez69/Bem Sex-Role Inventory

History: (add beneath what is in the history section)

The actual first scale that led to the creation of the Bem Sex Role Inventory was by Terman and Miles in 1936. The main thought behind it that brought about the idea of a measuring scale/test, was that males were thought to only have masculinity traits and personalities for it was natural to who they were. They couldn’t possess feminine personality traits. Likewise, women were only thought to be capable of possessing feminine traits and personalities, but couldn’t have any masculine ones.

Reliability and Validity:

With time, due to both changes in gender roles within the environment and beliefs, the initial result of the test, most of the time, doesn’t hold true. More people are tending to be more androgynous in their beliefs and personalities as they get older.

Scoring and Interpretation:

What defines a typical male or female, in terms of characteristics, has drastically changed and in many instances there has been visible reduction in both males and females with their respective characteristics. On the contrary, both genders are actually identifying with more traits that are labeled under the opposite gender. With this change, the use of the scale, and others like it, are leading people to render more and more characteristics as neutral for both genders. This then throws off how the score is being accounted for, and how one's results will be concluded.

 Critiques 

After an analysis and thorough investigation of 23 different studies having to do with the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI), it was concluded that masculinity and femininity are more complex than can be captured by the BSRI measurement itself. While the BSRI can help, it should not be taken to self-diagnose as it may not capture all the criteria especially with changing times.

1 -(Choi, N., & Fuqua, D. R. (2003). The structure of the Bem Sex Role Inventory: A summary report of 23 validation studies. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 63(5), 872–887. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164403258235 ) --journal

The BSRI, based on findings, is still somewhat valid. However, it is mainly to be used lightly when assessing gender roles. This is due to traditional gender roles associated with either being masculine or feminine, weakening. As society is striving more towards equality, perceptions are changing on what both genders are capable of.

2- (Holt, C. L., & Ellis, J. B. (1998). In Assessing the Current Validity of the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (Vol. 39, pp. 929–941). essay, Springer Link.) --book