Androgyny and Sex-Typing as Continuous Independent Factors, and a Glimpse of the Future

Models for operationalizing the sex-role constructs androgyny and sex-typing are reviewed, and problems discussed. A new (principal components) model representing an exact solution is derived and shown to solve existing problems. In this model, androgyny is a function of the sum of standardized instrumentality and expressiveness scores, and sex-typing a function of the difference between these scores. Formal operationalization of these constructs reveals that they may have theoretical utility in only very contrived contingencies, and an alternative profile matching model is proposed. This latter theory, which is not yet fully specified, hypothesizes that an individual's performance is maximized when the critical operating characteristics of a contingency (i.e., instrumental and expressive behaviors required for maximal performance to result) exactly match the individual's specific instrumental and expressive predispositions, and that performance decreases as the discrepancy between the instrumental/expressive profiles of the individual and the contingency increases.