The Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) is one of the most widely used tools in research on gender roles. In 1974 American psychologist Sandra L. Bem, a proponent of androgyny theory, recognized that an individual could express both feminine and masculine characteristics and constructed a sex-role inventory.
In addition, Bem utilized the BSRI in the construction of her gender schema theory, which proposes that sex typing results in part from the adaptation of one’s self-concept to the gender schema. The gender schema is the structure of spontaneously sorting people, characteristics, and behaviours into feminine and masculine categories.
The Open Sex Role Inventory was developed as open source, modernized measure of masculinity and femininity. The documentation of its development can be found here. The test has 22 statements of opinion that you must rate on a seven point scale of how much you agree with each.
This is an interactive personality test measuring masculinity and femininity (or gendered personality traits) modeled on the Bem Sex-Role Inventory.
Scholars used the BSRI as a predictor of adult mental health, parental behaviours, marital intimacy, marital satisfaction, and division of household behaviour. BSRI scales were also incorporated into research modeling the extent to which individuals engage in stereotypically feminine and masculine behaviours.
Of those, 10 positive and 10 negative characteristics were chosen (e.g., “gullible” and “cheerful”). The BSRI takes about 15 minutes to complete.
Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI), test used to measure an individual’s femininity and masculinity. The Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) is one of the most widely used tools in research on gender roles.
Personality embraces moods, attitudes, and opinions and is most clearly expressed in interactions with other people. It includes behavioral characteristics, both inherent and acquired, that distinguish one person from another and that can be observed in people’s relations to the environment…. History at your fingertips.
The BSRI remained a valid tool in social psychological research in the early 21st century, despite concerns about changing perceptions of masculine and feminine gender roles. Awareness of the BSRI’s potential weakening drew attention to the need for subsequent validation in the future. Shannon N. Davis.
In 1974 American psychologist Sandra L. Bem, a proponent of androgyny theory, recognized that an individual could express both feminine and masculine characteristics and constructed a sex-role inventory. Bem intended her inventory to represent two fully independent scales of culturally defined masculinity and culturally defined femininity.
Although the BSRI generally is accepted as the standard by which other sex-type d personality instruments are evaluated, the test has been criticized on technical and theoretical grounds. Specifically, American psychologist Janet Spence argued that the terms masculinity and femininity are inappropriate for labeling the scales, as they assess only instrumentality and expressiveness. Masculinity and femininity as concepts are much more complex and include many components not measured by the BSRI, including attitudes toward women and men and actual behaviours.
In the 1970s Sandra Bem developed the Bem Sex-Role Inventory to challenge the view the masculinity and femininity were polar opposites and that a masculinity-femininity not matching your gender was a sign of poor mental health.
Bem thought that it was possible to be both masculine and feminine at the same time and that this was the healthiest psychological state. The Open Sex Role Inventory was developed as open source, modernized measure of masculinity and femininity.
The test has 22 statements of opinion that you must rate on a seven point scale of how much you agree with each. It should take most people 4-6 minutes to complete. Participation. This test is provided for educational and entertainment use only.