A comparison among three measures of social sex-role

This study compared the De Cecco-Shively Social Sex-Role Inventory (DSI) with the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ). The analysis, comparing methods of femininity and masculinity trait description, assessment, and scoring procedures among the instruments, was obtained by administering the three inventories to a sample of seventy-nine respondents. Femininity and masculinity scores in each inventory were then classified by assigning these scores to appropriate quadrants according to median splits. Additionally, Pearson product-moment correlations were calculated in order to compare the overall femininity and masculinity scores among each of the three measures. The BSRI and PAQ were found to be in somewhat closer agreement with each other than with the DSI. The DSI provides for measurement of a greater spectrum of types of variables, and also allows more flexibility regarding personal and situational factors associated with assessment of social sex-role.