Comparative factor analyses of the Personal Attrributes Questionnaire and the Bem Sex-Role Inventory

Authors
  • John Antill

    Marquarie University

  • John D. Cunningham

    Marquarie University

Keywords:
social behavior, social psychology, comparative, factor, analyses, Personal Attrributes Questionnaire, The Bem Sex-role Inventory, androgyny measures, independent femininity, concern for others, masculinity, dominance, extraversion, insecurity, unemotiona
Abstract
Interest in the Personal Attribute Questionnaire (PAQ) of Spence et al. (1975) as a measure of androgyny suggests the need to discover whether it exhibits the same factor structure as other androgyny measures, e.g., the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI; Bem, 1974). Responses from 104 male and 133 female university students were analyzed by the principal components method separately for (1) PAQ items only and for (2) PAQ and BSRI items together. Both analyses yielded independent femininity (Concern for Others) and masculinity (Dominance) factors accounting for the greatest proportion of variance. However, particularly for the PAQ, certain clusters of male-valued and of female-valued items formed subsidiary factors (e.g., Extraversion, Insecurity, Unemotionality, and Independence), raising questions as to the theoretically unitary nature of femininity. That is, masculinity and femininity might each be regarded more profitably as composed of several components.
References
Downloads
Published
1982-08-01
Section
Articles
License

Author(s) agree that copyright of an article published in SBP Journal is transferred from the author(s) to the journal publisher (Scientific Journal Publishers Limited) upon publication.

Disclaimer

Social Behavior and Personality maintains an open editorial policy and may or may not endorse the conclusions made in its published articles. Neither the journal nor its publisher, editors or staff assume any responsibility for any material considered to be offensive or defamatory, or for obtaining any copyright permissions necessary for publication of articles.