Masculinity, Femininity and Androgyny: Their Relations With Multiple Dimensions of Self-Concept

Masculinity (M) and femininity (F) were related to multiple dimensions of self-concept in responses from 962 high school students. Androgyny theory predicts that both M and F will contribute positively and uniquely to self-concept, but previous research, typically relying on undifferentiated self-concept measures, has found the unique contribution of F to be nil. In contrast the present investigation found that M and F each contributed positively and uniquely to the prediction of well differentiated facets of self-concept. Consistent with a new model to explain MF/self-concept relations, the differentiated additive model, the relative contribution of M and F varied substantially depending on the area of self-concept; F contributed more positively to the self-concept facets for which girls had higher self-concepts than boys, and in some areas the contribution of F was more positive than the contribution of M. Contrary to predictions for interactive androgyny models and the sex-typed model, M-by-F interactions were not significant, and the effects of M, F and M-by-F did not depend on gender. The social desirability of MF items, whether they were negatively or positively valued, was more highly correlated with the self-concept responses than whether the items were M or F.