Sex, sex role identification, and college students' projective drawings

A study of 109 undergraduates found that sex and sex role identification, as assessed by the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI), were related significantly to sex sequence, sexual differences, and quality of drawing on the Draw-A-Person (DAP). Specifically, males and masculine persons tended to draw males first, female and feminine persons tended to draw females first, and androgynous persons were equally likely to draw a male or a female first. The greater the sexual differentiation of the female human figure drawing, the lower the subject's degree of masculinity. The single best predictor for identifying a female subject was the quality of the female figure drawing. Results were consistent with Machover's hypothesis that drawings of the human figure reveal facets of the subject's self-image.