Monday, December 05, 2005

Interesting "Psychological" Tests

The Bem Sex Role Inventory is a psychological inventory that assesses how high one is on masculine or feminine traits. It's been around forever--since the 1970's. I remember taking the test as an undergrad and being more in the androgynous zone--but now I just have full-fledged masculine traits (maybe that's why my family says I act like a "grumpy old man"). I wonder if this test is just out of date now? Perhaps today's women are scoring higher on so-called "masculine" traits such as self-reliance and independence and men are scoring higher on "feminine" characteristics of gentleness or a tendency to yield one's position. I always thought these traits a bit sterotypical.

Try the test and let me know what you think. Thanks to Inside Larry's Head Blog for pointing this test out. Take it here.
Please post in the comments to let me know how you did!

Update: I will take a stab at an updated version of a few of the traits mentioned in this out-of-date test. For those readers of a sensitive nature, this is only a parody. I imagine it would look something like this:

Answer never or almost never, sometimes, often, or always or almost always to the following:

Self Reliant-You live alone and don't want anyone bothering you (male or female).

Yielding-(For men only) Women tell you what to do and you go along to keep the peace. For women--you don't tell a man off for offering to open the door for you.

Helpful-if male, you assist in all politically correct endeavors such as moving your seat on an airline if an unaccompanied minor shows up--bonus points if you do so in a chivalrous manner without making waves. If female--take over the airline seat to make sure the child is protected. No bonus points if you are a female pedophile.

Assertive--you say "yes, dear" to your wife if she asks you to do something if you are male and knock your husband's two front teeth out if you are female.

Defends own beliefs--for men, you reluctantly make a remark at work that it seems slightly unfair that a sexual harrassment charge has been filed against you for looking a woman in the eye. For women, you slap a man with a sexual harrassment charge because he made eye contact with you.

Well--you get the idea.

48 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I took the survey and came out both masculine and feminine...not sure exactly what that means. I had a 66 in male traits and a 53 in female.

11:21 AM, December 05, 2005  
Blogger Helen said...

Hi tim,

I would assume that means you are androgynous leaning towards being more masculine than feminine. I wonder if men today have more androgynous traits than they did 30 years ago?

11:29 AM, December 05, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Eek,
You scored higher than 71% on masculinity
You scored higher than 0% on femininity

11:33 AM, December 05, 2005  
Blogger Helen said...

annonymous--

Mine was worse than that--I think the traits they list are completely outdated. Most females I know are self-reliant and independent. I do feel a bit funny that I got a 0% in femininity also--although if the stereotype of femaleness is yielding and secretive--I can't say I am dissapointed.

11:40 AM, December 05, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I scored higher than 64% on masculinity
I scored higher than 88% on femininity

I'm slightly bothered. Well, not really, I know I'm more "sensitive" than most men. Oh well. That's just how I am.

12:11 PM, December 05, 2005  
Blogger jau said...

I got "androgynous" too - higher than 0% on both (scores of 56% and 53%). I agree that the traits sound old fashioned, so I think you should write your own!

12:52 PM, December 05, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am a male scoring 62/75 (androgynous). The traits aren't out-of-date, but rather reflect the misconceptions that many have about the past, based largely on the 50's sitcoms that were targeted at young children and didn't reflect reality. Women haven't changed thru the ages, they still behave and think as they feel other women want them to. Men haven't changed, either. They do what is necessary for their family's health and happiness regardless of the opinions of others.

1:09 PM, December 05, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I spent 20 years in the Navy where being "masculine" was far more valued than being "androgynous." I'm assuming my "feminine" traits are a result of cultural factors that seem to place value on "feelings" and being "sensitive". It's all an act though!!! :) As you say, this survey needs a big update!

1:13 PM, December 05, 2005  
Blogger Greg Kuperberg said...

I scored 70/56. The percentiles for my "age and gender" were 63% and 27%.

I also feel like the test lowered my IQ.
They should give Stanford-Binet before and after the Bem test to see if this effect is real.

1:21 PM, December 05, 2005  
Blogger Sissy Willis said...

Having it all:

You scored higher than 99% on masculinity

You scored higher than 99% on femininity

A strong personality is like a melody

1:22 PM, December 05, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I scored: this webpage is filtered by websense. I'm not sure which category that places me in, or if maybe the office just doesn't want me to find out.

1:43 PM, December 05, 2005  
Blogger DADvocate said...

Androgynous
76 masculinity and 53 femininity
Higher than 75% on masculinity
Higher than 25% on femininity

I little surprising. I doubt that someone's first impression of me is androgynous. I don't look a bit like Michael Jackson.

2:00 PM, December 05, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What if your finely-developed sense of compassion for the unfortunate leads you to beat the holy living crap out of some perp?

2:01 PM, December 05, 2005  
Blogger Gary Cruse said...

That was very strange. I scored androgynous 63/53. Yet, in my age group, I scored 99% male, 0% female.

I interpret this to mean that as an older guy, I am macho man. But when I go to the mall, I'm Saturday Night Live's omnisexual Pat on steroids.

Very strange.

2:33 PM, December 05, 2005  
Blogger Assistant Village Idiot said...

The M/F scale on the MMPI tends to trend educated people to the middle. I suspect that formal education is just a proxy for some related category of social awareness.

I was a sensitive male in the 60's and 70's (subcategory: depressive folksinger) because girls seemed to like it. Now I don't like much of anyone, really.

2:45 PM, December 05, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Male, 45 percent/32 percent.

Two questions, Helen. First, what do you think about Myers-Briggs (generally, and if you apply it personally and/or professionally)? Second, if you do take M-B seriously, do you see androgyny concomitant to certain Myers-Briggs temperaments?

2:49 PM, December 05, 2005  
Blogger Loquitur Veritatem said...

I scored higher than 82% on masculinity and higher than 3% on femininity (76 masculinity, 33 femininity). Strikes me as about right for me, by traditional standards of masculinity and femininity. But I'm probably older than most test-takers (in my 60s), so younger men (presumably more attuned to "sensitivity") probably score higher on femininity.

3:03 PM, December 05, 2005  
Blogger Helen said...

Hi cover me...

Clinical and forensic psychologists typically do not use the Myers-Briggs in our work. It is more used in employment and industrial psychology to look at whether people are team players, what traits they have etc. I do not use it in my practice. I have taken it and am an INTP--mad scientist--there are some good books on the topic you asked about--like "Please Understand Me." It descibes the types and how one can learn more about their talents etc.

3:07 PM, December 05, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I actually own David Keirsey's second book (aptly titled Please Understand Me II) and find the concept fascinating. I suppose I should have guessed that M-B would have limited utility — but now I know, thanks to a weblog like this one.

3:32 PM, December 05, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You scored 86 masculinity and 46 femininity!
You scored higher than 90% on masculinity
You scored higher than 0% on femininity

M'kay... I suppose to be considered feminine I have to dither and feel sorry for the world... I'll stick with masculine. *grin*

5:48 PM, December 05, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Traditionally masculine (M 76 - F 43), with a nice photo of Jimmy Stewart thrown in for free. Results probably reflect being a blond haired blue eyed Anglo-Saxon male reared in the Deep South before the Age of Aquarius.

5:50 PM, December 05, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Re Psychological Tests

I've taken just about every one I ever saw (It's either cusiosity or an excessive need for ego gratification.) and have gleaned the following over the years:

1. There are no perfectly revealing, all-encompassing tests.

2. Individual tests at best provide limited indications. Even sophisticated, widely used, well-regarded tools like the MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Index) require trained analysis and, as I understand it, generate more-useful indications when interpreted across more than one set of results.

3. My personal approach: Have fun, take a variety of tests, learn a little something about myself, don't get hung up on particular results, leave the serious stuff to qualified professionals.

For Dr. Helen: About INTPs

Greatest precision in thought and language. Can readily discern contradictions and inconsistencies. The world exists primarily to be understood. INTPs are very often found in academic, theoretical, and technical positions, many of which require prolonged periods of solitary concentration and analysis. Their concern with ideas and their natural curiosity about the underlying principles and explanations for events often draws them to careers where an in-depth understanding of some abstract subject is required. Their abilities to become absorbed in an idea, to concentrate to the exclusion of all distractions, and to be objectively critical and creative often lead to their gaining a remarkable understanding of some complex problem, issue, or subject matter.
Careers often chosen by INTPs include physical and life sciences, computer science, social sciences, architecture, law, photography, writing and journalism, engineering and medicine. 1% of the total population.

6:13 PM, December 05, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I scored:

120 masculinity and -23 femininity
May I kill something now and eat it or should I wait????????????

6:21 PM, December 05, 2005  
Blogger David A. Giles said...

Androgynous

80 masculinity
53 femininity

For my age (43) and gender (m):

higher than 80% on masculinity
higher than 14% on femininity

11:57 PM, December 05, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm a 28 year old female and I scored masculine 66 to 33. This doesn't surprise me in the least. My parents both have analytical/scientist type personalities, so I didn't get much in the way of feminine personality traits through either genes or upbringing.

Interestingly, my husband and I have taken similar "what gender is your brain" tests in the past, and I'm always scored male while he's scored female - I guess that's why things work out so well.

1:27 AM, December 06, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anon at 6:21,

Just remember to pillage before you burn.

I scored 73/63, but could easily see how to cook to books to get whatever result my ego wanted.

Retread

7:12 AM, December 06, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I scored in the androgynous range (63M/70F), which is no surprise. I'm a highly independent, risk-taking, girly girl. Since the test required me to interpret the words in my own way, though, I can't say I put much stock in it. I chose to interpret "Secretive" as "Private" to eliminate the negative connotation, and there were surely a few others that required me to open my mental thesaurus to try to find a word with a lower emotional charge.

9:59 AM, December 06, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

To Mike Rentner...

Smart people take these online tests in good fun. Stupid people take them seriously... then again stupid people will find a way to do stupid things anyway - a test like this or the Briggs/Myers won't change that.

So long as the girl in question isn't going to be placed in a position requiring serious intelligent brain power - I don't see the tests as being dangerous.

While stupid people can and do make it into positions they should never be in - that is generally not because of a test alone, but because while they may be "stupid" they are able to use the system in place to their advantage...

12:36 PM, December 06, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Masculine, by a score of 56M to 40F, with what I took to be a nice photograph of Hugh Beaumont thrown in for good measure.

For comparison purposes (though I'm not sure a comparison can realistically be made between the two) my MBTI is ISTJ.

3:23 PM, December 06, 2005  
Blogger Assistant Village Idiot said...

The MMPI is also designed to sort out serious pathology more than categorise a (statistically) normal person.

6:14 PM, December 06, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Motor. Not much femininity taught at Chattahoochee High.

One EM said I was like Mr. Spock. Then he said, "I guess officers are supposed to be."

What's a 1560?

71542

7:23 PM, December 06, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Androgynous
I scored 73 masculinity and 60 femininity.

For my age group (female, 47) I scored 85% masculine and 50% feminine.

I don't know how you psychologist folks can get any data from test that are so subjective - where I'm the one deciding between "always or almost always" and "often."

That might be an interesting post sometime.

9:55 PM, December 06, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am androygenous

9:14 AM, December 07, 2005  
Blogger Helen said...

Ok, so from what I gather--the group of readers on this blog lean towards being androgynous to masculine--even the women. Anyone out there score highly in femininity--male or female?

9:49 AM, December 07, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Interesting. I scored 56% masculine and 55% feminine. Although I would think my shoe collection would put me over the top, girly-wise.

10:45 AM, December 07, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well the BEM is of course junk pseudoscience. Not predictive with a reliance on gender stereotypes that can be recognized as male or female by the test taker. Self reporting is also a dubious assessment.

On the other hand, you clearly do have more balls than Mr. Insta-No-Comments-Enabled-Hack, so the test does apparently have some validity.

2:32 PM, December 07, 2005  
Blogger Eric said...

Androgynous

I scored "53 masculinity and 70 femininity!"
I scored "high on both masculinity and femininity." I "have a strong personality exhibiting characteristics of both traditional sex roles. "

Odd, because I found it almost impossible to answer most of the questions, so "often" was usually my default answer. In college Psych 101 I took the California Psychological Inventory -- which indicated deception and other negative personality features. They wouldn't let me analyze the test (said only grad students could "peek"), so I dropped the course.

9:19 PM, December 07, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think each online test you participate in adds one point to your LLS (Lifetime Loser Score). I just broke twenty.

10:17 AM, December 08, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

88% on masculinity
74% on femininity

Not sure what this means ( I am Male )

10:14 PM, December 10, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

ha ha how useless! I'm female, 53 yrs:

higher than 63% male, 11% female

androgynous, 76 male, 53 female

I'd guess that when the test was put together, women were way more likely than now to give answers that characterized themselves as they thought they should be, rather than as they truly were: sympathetic? sure! cheerful? you bet! blah blah. silly test.

3:13 AM, December 11, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dr Helen,

Perhaps I read too much into what you wrote, but it seems you are conceding a central point of postmodern feminist critical theory: that gender is a construct, and that we can deconstruct it, and reconstruct it. You seem to suggest that the construct of femininity of thirty years ago is risibly out of date, as measured by the BSRI.

[Yes, I'm setting up something of a strawman, and if you didn't mean to imply any of this, that's fine].

I'd be interested to see a test that was based on classical ideas of masculinity and femininity. Different cultures have somewhat different ideals of the masculine and feminine, but there are also points in common.

I'd say that gender identity is _not_ (entirely) a social construct, but a more primary and sublime manifestation, which was much better appreciated and understood in antiquity than in the present day.

12:09 AM, December 13, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Got an Androgynous 50/50.
I suppose I'm rather balanced ...

7:07 AM, August 17, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

80M 33F

I was being a little conservative in answering some questions. Should probably be 85+M 20+F.

2:13 PM, October 10, 2006  
Blogger Serket said...

My results: Feminine
You scored 30 masculinity and 60 femininity!
You scored high on femininity and low on masculinity. You have a traditionally feminine personality.

I am a male in my 20s and I am definitely NOT gay. However, I am not surprised by the results. I am really shy, often hide my opinions, and try to sympathize with others, plus I'm not very athletic, but I do enjoy casual games of basketball sometimes.

3:51 PM, January 15, 2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The BEM test doesn't take into account if someone is depressed and not getting treatment. Professionals know that depressed people get little pleasure out of anything and their ability to feel anything is low.

I took the BEM test in 1991 for a women's studies class at the Univ. of Wash. I had just gotten out of an abusive relationship but didn't have the money for on-going therapy and school too. Women's studies had been recommended to me as a good field.

The entire class of about 50 women and 2-3 men took the test on the first day. The teacher handed us our individual results and announced the general results to everyone on the next class day.

Everyone in the class scored high or medium high on either the masculine or feminine scale, with a few people high on both scales. But there were 2 people who scored low on both scales.

The teacher encouraged discussion about what this meant. A number of women began saying that people like the ones who scored are the kind of people who have made the world a bad place, because it meant "they never get involved in anything." The discussion focussed on this without intervention by the teacher for at least 20 minutes, even though everyone knew that the two people who had those scores were in the room with them.

I was one of those two people. I didn't know at the time that my depression could have contributed to my score, but I couldn't speak up for myself because I had learned not to because of the abuse, and it was all I could do to hold back my tears.

After having studied social psychology, I know how difficult it would have been for anyone to stand up to those bullies.

But a truly courageous woman in the class did. She raised her hand and said it was wrong to blame all the bad things in the world on people who were just different and appeared to be in a small minority. I don't remember what all she said, but I'm eternally grateful to her. She had clarity of mind and greatness of heart.

At the time, I was ignorant of how good science actually works and the ethics of what the teacher did and did not do, and felt total shame mixed with gratitude for that woman. I immediately dropped that class and never learned her name.

It took me years to learn the dynamics of what happened there, especially since it added to what happened to me when I was being abused. I will be forever deeply grateful to that woman because she literally kept me alive.

I'm a different person now and I've paid her courage forward a number of times.

12:25 PM, February 26, 2007  
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