Correlation Between Masculinity and Empathy

Correlation Between Masculinity and Empathy

Many psychological studies have been carried out over the years in the topic of personality, in aiming to grasp the type of factors that are involved in bestowing us the personalities that we hold. Most people will have probably come across various personality tests at some stage or another, which ask you lots of questions and then analyze your results in trying to categorize what kind of personality you've got.

One of the most fascinating aspects of personality is the issue of gender roles in our personalities. One would expect men generally have more masculine traits than feminine ones, and women tend to have more feminine traits than masculine ones. Sandra L. Bem (1974), a psychologist, developed a personality test known as the BSRI test (Bem Sex Role Inventory), which tries to separate the male and female aspects of your personality to see if your personality consists of predominantly masculine (instrumental), predominantly feminine (expressive), or androgynous (both instrumental and expressive). According to Taylor and Hall, masculinity is defined by instrumentality and femininity by expressiveness. Both variables have proved their validity in previous investigations (as cited by Schenk and Heinisch, 1985).

Coherently, empathy has been defined in many ways. In JPI-R's emotional cluster, it is referred to a person's emotional responsiveness toward other people (Jackson, 1994). A high scorer on this scale might be tended to identify closely with other people and their matters. He concerned with others and upset by other's misfortunes. In contrast, a low scorer tended not to allow feelings to intrude on decision-making. He displayed little compassion, emotionally unr...

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Schenk, J. & R. Heinsch (1985). Self-Descriptions by Means of Sex-Role Scales and Personality Scales: A Critical Evaluation of Recent Masculinity and Femininity Scales, Personality and Individual Differences, 7, 161-168.

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