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From Adolescence to Later Adulthood: Femininity, Masculinity, and Androgyny in Six Age Groups

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Abstract

We drew from developmental theory regarding the timing of historical events in individuals’ lives to examine age-related differences in self-reported masculine, feminine, and androgynous personality traits in a cross-sectional sample of American men (N = 357) and women (N = 404) representing six age groups (adolescents [12–17 years], younger [18–29 years], middle-aged [40–59], young-old [60–69], old-old [70–79], and oldest-old [80 and older] adults). Oldest-old women were less likely than younger and middle-aged women to endorse masculine and androgynous traits. Men in their 70s (old-old) were more likely than adolescents and younger men to endorse androgynous traits. Discussion of the results emphasizes the implications of the second wave of the women’s movement for understanding life-span gender development.

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Acknowledgment

The data included in this report are from research supported by Grant R03-AG-15622-01 from the National Institutes on Aging awarded to Michael Marsiske and Jennifer Margrett, and from research supported by grants for graduate student research from the Department of Psychology at West Virginia University and the West Virginia University Eberly College of Arts and Sciences awarded to Jennifer Leszczynski, Tara Neely and Jennifer Flinn.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, West Virginia University, 53 Campus Drive, Morgantown, WV, 26506-6040, USA

    JoNell Strough & Jennifer A. Flinn

  2. Eastern Connecticut State University, Willimantic, CT, USA

    Jennifer Pickard Leszczynski

  3. Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA, USA

    Tara L. Neely

  4. Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA

    Jennifer Margrett

Authors
  1. JoNell Strough
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  2. Jennifer Pickard Leszczynski
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  3. Tara L. Neely
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  4. Jennifer A. Flinn
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  5. Jennifer Margrett
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Correspondence to JoNell Strough.

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Strough, J., Leszczynski, J.P., Neely, T.L. et al. From Adolescence to Later Adulthood: Femininity, Masculinity, and Androgyny in Six Age Groups. Sex Roles 57, 385–396 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-007-9282-5

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