The Use of<i>Masculine</i>and<i>Feminine</i>to Describe Women's and Men's Behavior

The hypothesis that the terms masculine and feminine would not have the same connotations as the personality traits that are typically associated with them was investigated and female targets described by instrumental adjectives and male targets describing by socioemotional adjectives received high ratings.

Abstract

The hypothesis that the terms masculine and feminine would not have the same connotations as the personality traits that are typically associated with them was investigated. Two hundred five undergraduates (116 women and 89 men) at a US university rated how much they expected to like various hypothetical women and men, each of whom was described by a single trait adjective. Ten instrumental-trait and 10 socioemotional-trait adjectives, including the terms masculine and feminine, were associated with a targeted female or male character (e.g., "an independent woman" or "an understanding man"). Although "a masculine woman" and "a feminine man" both received low ratings, female targets described by instrumental adjectives and male targets described by socioemotional adjectives received high ratings. Nonstereotypic characters were rated more positively by the female respondents than they were by the male respondents. Stereotypic targets were rated more positively by other-gender respondents than by same-gender respondents.