Does Bem´s Psychological Androgyny map on gender or sex differences in faces?

Abstract

Sarah Bem introduced the concept of androgyny, which disconnects sex and gender and includes a continuous representation of gender. What has not been investigated so far is whether the particular qualities postulated by Bem are qualities of gender rather than sex-associated traits. In the present study, the reversed correlation task as a data driven approach was used to determine the implicit gender stereotypes across the faces of men and women and to create an ideal protoype of feminine and masculine faces. Then it was measured which impressions these faces evoke. Two studies and a pilot study (N=514) were conducted. The present study showed that gender and not sex is crucial for the attribution of social characteristics. Pictures of stereotypical faces have been found to be highly suitable for measuring masculinity and femininity. The continuous properties of masculinity and femininity, as outlined by Bem (1974), are still appropriate to differentiate between the stereotypical ideas of men and women.