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Re-assessing the Role of Gender-Related Cognitions for Self-Esteem: The Importance of Gender Typicality for Cisgender Adults

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Abstract

Gender-related cognitions have been central to accounts of well-being in children and adults in the United States. Yet, the child and adult literatures are currently not aligned in how they measure these experiences, creating an asymmetry in scientific understanding. The current investigation aligns these literatures by using the short-form of the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI; Bem 1981) (adult literature) and a modified version of Egan and Perry’s (2001) Gender Typicality Scale (child literature) with cisgender (i.e., those whose current gender identity is the same label as their birth-assigned category) adult participants. These measures were used to determine the relative contributions of each to self-esteem using nonprobability samples of heterosexual and queer (i.e., lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, and asexual) women and men in the United States. The analyzed groups consisted of cisgender individuals: heterosexual women (N = 97), heterosexual men (N = 90), queer women (N = 83), and queer men (N = 51). All groups showed significant contributions of adult gender typicality to self-esteem, over and above the BSRI dimensions. Thus, both self-reported gender typicality and self-reported endorsement of certain BSRI dimensions are important indicators of well-being in cisgender adults in the United States.

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Acknowledgments

No funding source aided in the collection of these data. Portions of these data were presented at the 14th annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) on January 18, 2013, in New Orleans, LA, USA.

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Correspondence to Charlotte Chucky Tate.

Appendix

Appendix

Gender Typicality (Women)

Instructions: Women have a range of feelings about how typical they are in comparison to other women. Please read each statement and indicate your agreement with it. Remember, there are no right or wrong answers, so please answer honestly.

  1. 1.

    I feel just like women my age.

  2. 2.

    I feel I fit in with other women.

  3. 3.

    I think I am a good example of other women.

  4. 4.

    I feel that what I like to do in my spare time is similar to what most women like to do in their spare time. I feel that the things I am good at are similar to what most women are good at.

  5. 5.

    I feel that the things I am good at are similar to what most women are good at.

  6. 6.

    I feel that my personality is similar to most women’s personalities.

Gender Typicality (Men)

Instructions: Men have a range of feelings about how typical they are in comparison to other men. Please read each statement and indicate your agreement with it. Remember, there are no right or wrong answers, so please answer honestly.

  1. 1.

    I feel just like men my age.

  2. 2.

    I feel I fit in with other men.

  3. 3.

    I think I am a good example of other men.

  4. 4.

    I feel that what I like to do in my spare time is similar to what most men like to do in their spare time.

  5. 5.

    I feel that the things I am good at are similar to what most men are good at.

  6. 6.

    I feel that my personality is similar to most men’s personalities.

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Tate, C.C., Bettergarcia, J.N. & Brent, L.M. Re-assessing the Role of Gender-Related Cognitions for Self-Esteem: The Importance of Gender Typicality for Cisgender Adults. Sex Roles 72, 221–236 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-015-0458-0

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