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Effects of perceiver's sex-role orientation, target's sex-role preference and occupational choice on the attractiveness of competent women

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the self-reported sex-role orientation of hale and female undergraduate college students and their perceived attraction to women with differing occupational choices (traditional vs nontraditional) and stated sex-role preferences (gender congruent vs incongruent). It was expected that androgynous and sex-typed subjects would view differently women with differing occupational and behavior styles.The Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) was utilized to assess the sex-role orientation of 241 subjects. The data are based on 40 sex-typed and 40 androgynous male and female undergraduate students. An Interpersonal Rating Form was used to assess subjects' attraction to the stimulus persons. Seven planned comparisons were made to test the research hypotheses using t-tests. The level of significance was set at p < .01 level.Findings1. Sex-typed males showed no significant difference on their social and work attraction between a woman who expresses a gender congruent sex-role preference and a woman who expresses a gender incongruent sex-role preference (irrespective of the woman's occupational choice, traditional or nontraditional).2. Sex-typed females showed a significantly greater social and work attraction to the gender congruent than to the gender incongruent woman in both the traditional and nontraditional occupation condition.3. Sex-typed males and females did not show a greater social and work attraction to the woman who chooses a traditional occupation than to the woman who chooses a nontraditional occupation (irrespective of the woman's sex-role preference, gender congruent or incongruent).4. Androgynous males and females tended not to discriminate in their social and work attraction between the nontraditional, gender congruent and the nontraditional, gender incongruent woman.5. Androgynous males and females did not show a greater social and work attraction to the women who choose a nontraditional occupation and who are gender incongruent than sex-typed males and females.Conclusions1. Subjects' sex-role orientation might not be a good predictor of their responses to individuals with various sex-role identities.2. The BSRI might not be the appropriate instrument to measure global sex-role attitudes and behaviors.3. The results might be the outcome of the nonseguential relationship between attitudes and behaviors.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/178014
Date January 1982
CreatorsMariatou-Metaxa, Eugenia
ContributorsZimmerman, Jay S.
Source SetsBall State University
Detected LanguageEnglish
Format2, iv, 86 leaves ; 28 cm.
SourceVirtual Press

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