Bem+Inventory

Hannah Kwarta

=**Bem Inventory** =

** What is the Bem Inventory? ** The Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) was designed by American Psychologist, Sandra Bem, in 1974 “to facilitate empirical research on psychological androgyny” (Hoffman & Borders, 2001).It is self administering. It consists of sixty terms, 20 stereotypically masculine, 20 stereotypically feminine, and 20 non-gender related. In order to determine the connected to the gender, Bem used 100 college students to identify from a list of 400 words, which were more masculine and which were more feminine.

** The BSRI in Terms of Gender Roles. ** Bem was the first to measure masculinity and femininity on not just one spectrum but two (Hoffman & Borders, 2001). Masculine and feminine constructs were determined by traits considered desirable buy males and females, respectively (Hoffman & Borders, 2001). This means that an individual doesn’t fall somewhere between masculine and feminine, but is somewhere between high and low in each categorization. Therefore, people can be labeled as Masculine (high masculinity, low femininity), Feminine (low masculinity, high femininity), Androgynous (high masculinity, high femininity), or undifferentiated (low masculinity, low femininity).

All the terms Bem used in her inventory were purposely chosen for their connection with societal desirability for specific gender based characteristics. She wanted to see how these societal views affected an individuals’ self concept (Hoffman & Borders, 2001).

** Interpreting the Bem Inventory. ** About ten years after the publication of Sandra Bem’s Sex Role Inventory, she also made available a manual in which individuals could interpret the results of their scores. She included in it two different methods in which scores can be calculated to determine which of the four possible gender role said individual belongs. Neither has been said to provide more accurate results, and since the original method is easier to understand and perform it is typically used more often by both individuals and scientific researchers (Hoffman).

This inventory can be done and results calculated by individuals or in a scientific setting. This allows for people to know where they fall in regards to their own sexual gender and the stereotypes that society has labeled. Though this doesn’t mean that the individual associates more with one sex or the other, it merely translates to which qualities they desire in relations to stereotypical emphasis on that term.

** Gender Roles in the Work Place. ** In one particular study, participants were college students, all of whom at the time had a job. They were then given the BSRI and asked to write narratives regarding their work environment and satisfaction (Gianakos, 2002). It was determined that gender role was more impactful in job selection than actual biological sex. Men typically sought after the stereotypical, power hungry, higher income profession, whereas women more often than not, sought female dominated fields where pay and status weren’t as high. It is also noted that androgynous and undifferentiated individuals did not demonstrate any preference.

Compared to the societal expectations of gender roles in the 1970's, when the Bem Sex Role Inventory was originally published, today men and women are less likely to be persecuted for straying from the stereotypical behaviors and attitudes. Men are no longer strictly considered macho men but also metro-sexual, or even as a "sensitive guy" (Gender Roles). Similarly, females have expanded their former stereotypical constraints by becoming a predominant community in the workforce, and educated on an equal level to men. The Gay Community has also challenged the constraints of the stereotypical gender roles. Gay men and women may be extremely masculine, feminine, or anywhere in between. Some identify with the opposite sex and others may feel more androgynous (Gender Roles).
 * Emphasis of Gender Roles Today. **

** Masculinity, Femininity, Androgyny, and Undifferentiated. ** “Bem merely defines these constructs as the degree to which respondents use ‘cultural definitions as idealized standards of femininity and masculinity for evaluating their own personality and behavior” (Hovdesven, 2). Some words directly from the Inventory that were correlated to a high masculine score were, independent, assertive, analytical; whereas feminine words were understanding, loyal, compassionate. Neutral words were both positive and negative and included words such as conscientious, moody, jealous, and adaptable (Hovdesven, 3).

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Clearly these words were picked as representing either a feminine or masculine discourse because of the way society views them. It is the societal culture and standards that are instilled in people which have suggested that women are naturally soft and support versus a man who is powerful and mighty. To label these words as truly masculine or feminine is societies doing. To charge a person of stepping outside the norm of their said gender is not only hypocritical but may be detrimental to his psyche and wellbeing. Associating with one of the four classifications from Bem’s Inventory truly has nothing to do with ones’ biological sex. People from all different backgrounds can be masculine, feminine, androgynous, or undifferentiated. In relation to the BSRI, it is the importance of society’s emphasis of gender and how important you feel those specified qualities are in yourself.

Hoffman, R., Borders, D. (2001, April). Twenty-Five Years After the Bem Sex-Role Inventory: A Reassessment and New Issues Regarding Classification Variability. //Measurement & Evaluation in Counseling & Development (American Counseling Association),// 34, 39-56.

Gianako, Irene. 2002. Issues of anger in the workplace. //Career Development Quarterly//. Retrieved from: [].

Gender Role: Changing Roles Retrieved From: []

Bem Sex Role Inventory. 2005-2010. //Mind Garden, Inc.// Retrieved from: []

Hovdesven, Karin. 2006. Bem Sex Role Inventory-Can You Measure Masculinity and Femininity?. Yahoo Groups Associated Content., 1-6. Retrieved From: []