Implicit Theories of Masculinity and Femininity: Dualistic or Bipolar?

Abstract

The present study addressed the question of whether persons' implicit personality theories include the notion that the possession of masculine and feminine characteristics tend to preclude each other so that the two clusters of attributes are perceived to be negatively correlated. Subjects (college students) were given one of four basic descriptions of a group of men or women. These descriptions specified the presence or absence of “masculine” or “feminine” attributes as defined by the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ). Subjects given descriptions specifying the presence or absence of “masculine” characteristics were asked the extent to which they could make inferences about the presence or absence of “feminine” characteristics. An analogous procedure was implemented for the descriptions specifying the presence or absence of “feminine” characteristics. The results confirm the hypothesis that individuals tend to perceive a negative relationship between masculinity and femininity in others.