SELF COMPLEXITY AND GENDER

Self complexity and gender: An exploratory study of the effects of gender schemata on self-representation

Abstract

Gender is an important component in the cognitive and affective structuring of the self. The present study examines the cognitive complexity in self-representations of men and women with various gender schemata, using the Bern Sex-Role Inventory and a trait sort task when (a), describing themselves and (b), when specifically accessing their gender schemata. Forty female and thirty-five male university students indicated that, contrary to prediction, masculine and feminine schematics were more complex when arranging 30 pre-selected gender-linked traits than androgynous participants. The hypothesis that women would have higher complexity scores when describing themselves was supported. Given the nature of the traits used in the sorting task, it was clear that the present study measured gender-complexity rather than self-complexity. Within this salient domain, masculine and feminine schematics were understandably more complex in their representations. Within the gender domain, women were generally higher than men in gender complexity, but more likely to reduce their complexity scores when accessing their gender schemata, i.e., describing the woman they are. The results of the study suggest that future research use self-generated traits in the sorting task to further examine a multi-dimensional model of gender schemata within the self schema.

Acknowledgement

I would take this opportunity to thank my research supervisor, family and friends for their support and guidance without which this research would not have been possible.

Table of Content

Chapter 1: Introduction1

Background of the Study1

Purpose of the study4

Significance of the Study5

Scope of the Study7

Chapter 2: Literature Review12

The Development of Gender Schemata and Self Schema12

Psychoanalytic theories of self and gender identity14

Gender Schema theory19

Processing Features of Gender Schemata and Self Schema22

The Encoding and Representation Function of Schemata27

The effects of specific gender schemata on information processing29

Accessibility and availability of Schemata34

Self-complexity and gender schemata41

Integrative complexity and cognitive growth41

Measures of self-complexity43

Socialization): Socialization Experiences as Social Context46

Self-guide strength.48

Attributions for performance.50

Origins as Windows Into Individual Differences51

Chapter 3: Methodology57

Hypothesis58

Method59

Participants59

Materials59

Bern Sex-Role Inventory59

Trait-Sort Task: a measure of complexity in self representation61

Questionnaire64

Procedure64

"Self" priming condition65

"Gender" priming condition66

Chapter 4: Analysis and Discussion69

Results69

Overview and Descriptive Statistics69

Inferential Analyses77

Discussion88

Chapter 5: Conclusion98

Future Research Recommendation99

References103

Chapter 1: Introduction

Background of the Study

The words "sex" and "gender" are often used interchangeably even though the terms "gender identity" and "gender role", originally coined by Money (1955), were selected precisely because they were not bound to biologic sex and referred to other than sexual behaviors. It is not her experience of her own body structure and biological processes, that Piercy wishes to "take off" from her self. It is not her sex but her gender, her relationship to the traits, values, roles and behaviours prescribed by the culture as normative for women, that she wishes to experience as separate from her phenomenological sense of self. As a "gendered member of society, she cannot come to her work neuter as a clam. In work, in play, in daily relationships and in the most private subjective experience of "I", the cultural construction of gender colours the perceptions, expectations and evaluations of one's self and of ...