Undifferentiated

[ritaxis]

I took the Bem sex role questionnaire because I'm looking at these tests for background information for a story.  My score could have been female sex-typed, male sex-typed, androgynous, or undifferentiated.

I was undifferentiated.  The female score was a bit higher than the male score, but both were under the threshold.

Naturally, I'm underimpressed, though honestly if I was to be required to guess how I would come out on a standardized test, I would probably have guessed about this.

Mainly, I'm sort of puzzled as to what good the test is.  Of what use is it to tell people whether or not they fit a gender role stereotype?  Or do people use it for ammunition when they're trying to create a program for their lives that allows them to live comfortably?  Does anybody know how this test is actually used for people?

It's not, after all, useful to the story at hand.

Comments

[genlisae.livejournal.com]

I am usually left wondering the purpose of all tests of this nature. Do people really need to take a test to tell the they are introverted? That they enjoy being outdoors? They prefer doing rather than reading?

As for this test specifically, it seems to be of even more dubious use. I am not entirely sure I have completely grasped the concept of the intended purpose. I don't see what good it would do to slot respondents into roles based on a heavily socially-biased gender binary. That they have attempted to include two non-binary options in the mix while still using the binary as a basis? This baffles me even more.

I'm missing something here. That being said I am going to track this (if you don't mind) because usually someone on your list will come along and explain the other side, the side I didn't see. I like that.

[pameladean]

I looked at it, but if they want me to do that work, they can do the math for me. Sheesh.

I think the vast majority of such tests are completely useless, and looking at the stupid things they come up with makes me mad.

P.

[tanathir.livejournal.com]

Seems really heavy on stereotypes to me. The test even says "socially desirable, stereotypically masculine and feminine personality characteristics." It looks skewed toward valuing "masculine" traits more than "feminine."

[annafdd.livejournal.com]

It is a bit iffy. It does measure how much the person answering conforms to stereotypical views of femininity and masculinity, where compassion and nurturing are feminine and assertivness and leadership are masculine. In short, it measures how much you can be fit within a stereotype.

I have always thought I'd had pretty "masculine" characteristics - facility with maps, navigational skills, DIY skills, good practical problem-solving - but this questionnaire doesn't pick them up. I attributed this to the fact that a) I have been brought up not to be stereotypically gendered and b) I've had to fend for myself most of my life.

Anyway - it doesn't seem to have been designed to measure an intrinsic quality, simply how much you conform to stereotype. Of course, the question of whether there is an intrinsic quality is open to discussion, and I for one don't believe there is. But, well, maybe other stuff could measure stereotypical qualities better (for example, there are spatial-visual tasks that yield very, very, VERY slightly different results for men and women, but I have to stress it's an extremely slight difference of medians. There are mathematical tests that yield different results that seem to depend on priming self-esteem and gender identification. For all of which do check Cordelia Fine's Delusions of Gender).