Abstract
LISREL analyses of data from a sample of 671 adults (90% Caucasian, 10% Black) evaluated (a) item factor structure of the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI), (b) second-order factor model for the item factors, and (c) structural equation models estimating age and gender differences in these factors. Seven first-order item factors were extracted and found to have equivalent factor loadings for males and females. Item factors were related to two second-order factors: Masculinity and Femininity. There were relatively small age and gender differences in the first- and second-order factors. There was a differential relationship between self-rated masculinity and femininity and the first-order BSRI item factors for males and females. Results suggest that the BSRI best assesses gender-related personality traits and represents only one component of the complex multidimensional construct of gender roles.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Ashmore, R. D. (1990). Sex, gender, and the individual. In L. A. Pervin (Ed.),Handbook of personality: Theory and research. New York: Guilford Press.
Ashmore, R. D., & Del Boca, F. K. (Eds.). (1986).Social psychology of male-female relations: A critical analysis of central concepts. Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
Bem, S. L. (1974). Measuring psychological androgyny.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 41 155–162.
Bem, S. L. (1979). Theory and measurement of androgyny: A reply to the Pedhazur-Tetenbaum and Locksley-Colten critiques.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37 1047–1054.
Bem, S. L. (1984). Androgyny and gender schema theory: A conceptual and empirical integration. In T. B. Sondregger (Ed.),Nebraska Symposium on Motivation 1984: Psychology and gender (Vol. 32). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
Bentler, P. M., & Bonett, D. G. (1980). Significance tests and goodness of fit in the analysis of covariance structures.Psychological Bulletin, 88 588–606.
Berzins, J. I., Welling, M. A., & Wetter, R. E. (1978). A new measure of psychological androgyny based on the Personality Research Form.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 46 126–138.
Bledsoe, J. C. (1983). Factorial validity of the Bem Sex-Role Inventory.Perceptual and Motor Skills, 56 55–58.
Bollen, K. A., & Long, J. S. (Eds.) (1993).Testing structural equation models. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Browne, M. W., & Cudeck, R. (1989). Single sample cross-validation indices for covariance structures.Multivariate Behavioral Research, 24 445–455.
Carlsson, M. (1981). Note on factor structure of the Bem Sex-Role Inventory.Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 22 123–127.
Collins, M., Waters, C. W., & Waters, L. K. (1979). Factor analysis of sex-typed items from the Bem Sex Role Inventory: A replication.Psychological Reports, 44 517–518.
Constantinople, A. (1973). Masculinity-femininity: An exception to a famous dictum?Psychological Bulletin, 80 389–407.
Cook, E. P. (1985).Psychological androgyny. New York: Pergamon Press.
Feldman, S. S., Biringen, Z. C., & Nash, S. C. (1981). Fluctuations of sex-related self-attributions as a function of stage of family life cycle.Developmental Psychology, 17 24 35.
Gaa, J. P., Liberman, D., & Edwards, T. A. (1979). A comparative factor analysis of the Bem Sex Role Inventory and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire.Journal of Clinical Psychology, 35 592–598.
Gross, R., Batlis, N., Small, A., & Erdwins, C. (1979). Factor structure of the Bem Sex-Role Inventory and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 47 1122–1124.
Hayduk, L. A. (1987).Structural equation modeling with LISREL: Essentials and advances. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Hertzog, C. (1989). Using confirmatory factor analysis for scale development and validation. In M. P. Lawton & A. R. Herzog (Eds.),Special research methods for gerontology. New York: Baywood Press.
Hertzog, C. (1990). On the utility of structural equation models for developmental research. In P. B. Baltes, D. L. Featherman, & R. M. Lerner (Eds.),Life-span development and behavior (Vol. 10). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Hertzog, C., Van Alstine, J., Usala, P. D., Hultsch, D. F., & Dixon, R. A. (1990). Measurement properties of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) in older populations.Psychological Assessment, 2 64–72.
Hiller, D. V., & Philliber, W. W. (1985). Internal consistency and correlates of the Bem Sex Role Inventory.Social Psychology Quarterly, 48 373–380.
Hyde, J. S., & Phillis, D. E. (1979). Androgyny across the lifespan.Developmental Psychology, 15 334–336.
Hyde, J. S., Krajnik, M., & Skuldt-Niederberger, K. (1991). Androgyny across the life-span: A replication and longitudinal follow-up.Developmental Psychology, 27 516–519.
Jöreskog, K. G. (1971). Simultaneous factor analysis in several populations.Psychometrika, 36 409–426.
Jöreskog, K. G., & Sorbom, D. (1984).LISREL VI user's guide. Mooresville, IN: Scientific Software.
Labouvie-Vief, G., DeVoe, M.,& Bulka, D. (1987). Speaking about feelings: Conceptions of emotion across the life span.Psychology and Aging, 4 425–437.
Larsen, R. J., & Seidman, E. (1986). Gender schema theory and sex role inventories: Some conceptual and psychometric considerations.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50 205–211.
Marsh, H. W. (1985). The structure of masculinity/femininity: An application of confirmatory factor analysis to higher order factor structures and factorial invariance.Multivariate Behavioral Research, 20 427–449.
Marsh, H. W., & Hocevar D. (1985). The application of confirmatory factor analysis to the study of self-concept: First and higher order factor structures and their invariance across age groups.Psychological Bulletin, 97 562–582.
Marsh, H. W., & Myers, M. (1986). Masculinity, femininity, and androgyny: A methodological and theoretical critique.Sex Roles, 14 397–430.
Marsh, H. W., Antill, J. K., & Cunningham, J. D. (1989). Masculinity and femininity: A bipolar construct and independent constructs.Journal of Personality, 57 625–661.
Maznah, I., & Choo, P. F. (1986). The factor structure of the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI).International Journal of Psychology, 21 31–41.
McDonald, R. P. (1978). A simple comprehensive model for the analysis of covariance structures.British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 31 59–72.
McDonald, R. P., & Marsh, H. W. (1990). Choosing a multivariate model: Noncentrality and goodness of fit.Psychological Bulletin, 107 247–255.
Meredith, W. (1964). Rotation to achieve factorial invariance.Psychometrika, 29 187–206.
Morawski, J. G. (1987). The troubled quest for masculinity, femininity, and androgyny. In P. Shaver & C. Hendrick (Eds.),Review of personality and social psychology: Vol. 7. Sex and gender. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Mulaik, S. A. (1972).The foundations of factor analysis. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Mulaik, S. A., James, L. R., Van Alstine, J., Bennett, N., Lind, S., & Stillwell, C. D. (1989). An evaluation of goodness of fit indices for structural equation models.Psychological Bulletin, 105 430–445.
Norris, L., Blanchard-Fields, F., & Arguelles, A. (1993).A cross cultural study of gender roles: Attitudes toward women from an adult developmental perspective. Unpublished manuscript.
Pedhazur, E. J., & Tetenbaum, T. J. (1979). Bem Sex Role Inventory: A theoretical and methodological critique.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37 996–1016.
Rindskopf, D., & Rose, T. (1988). Some theory and applications of confirmatory second-order factor analysis.Multivariate Behavioral Research, 23 51–67.
Ruch, L. O. (1984). Dimensionality of the Bem Sex Role Inventory: A multidimensional analysis.Sex Roles, 10 99–117.
Sassenrath, J. M., & Younge, G. D. (1979). The Bem Sex-Role Inventory reexamined.Psychological Reports, 45 935–941.
Schmitt, B. H., & Millard, R. T. (1988). Construct validity of the Bem Sex Role Inventory: Does the Bem Sex Role Inventory distinguish between gender-schematic and gender aschematic individuals?Sex Roles, 19 581–588.
Spence, J. T. (1984a). Gender Identity and its implications for the concepts of masculinity and femininity. In T. B. Sondregger (Ed.),Nebraska Symposium on Motivation 1984: Psychology and gender (Vol. 32). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
Spence, J. T. (1984b). Masculinity, femininity, and gender-related traits: A conceptual analysis and critique of current research. In B. Maher & W. Maher (Eds.),Progress in experimental personality research: Vol. 13. Normal personality processes. Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
Tanaka, J. S., & Huba, G. J. (1984). Structure of psychological distress: Testing confirmatory hierarchical models.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 52 719–721.
Thompson, B., & Melancon, J. G. (1986). Factor structure of the Bem Sex Role Inventory.Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 19 77–83.
Waters, L. K., & Popovich, M. (1986). Factor analysis of sex-typed items from the Bem Sex Role Inventory: A multiple replication across time.Psychological Reports, 59 1323–1326.
Waters, C. W., Waters, L. K., & Pincus, S. (1977). Factor analysis of masculine and feminine sex-typed items from the Bem Sex Role Inventory.Psychological Reports, 40 56–57.
Wiggins, J. S. (1979). A psychological taxonomy of trait-descriptive terms: The interpersonal domain.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37 395–412.
Wiggins, J. S., & Pincus, A. L. (1992). Personality: Structure and assessment.Annual Review of Psychology, 43 505–529.
Windle, M. (1986). Methodological and statistical considerations in the measurement of sex roles and aging. In J. D. Sinnott (Ed.),Sex roles and aging: Theory and research from a systems perspective. New York: Karger.
Windle, & Sinnott (1985). Psychometric study of the Bem Sex Role Inventory with an older adult sample.Journal of Gerontology, 40 336–343.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
We thank Herbert W. Marsh and an anonymous reviewer for valuable comments on previous drafts of this article.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Blanchard-Fields, F., Suhrer-Roussel, L. & Hertzog, C. A confirmatory factor analysis of the Bem Sex Role Inventory: Old questions, new answers. Sex Roles 30, 423–457 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01420602
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01420602