Psychological Androgyny

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In many cultures, expectations are put upon men and women. From birth, boys are expected to be masculine and girls are expected to be feminine. These expectations follow us into adulthood. Although these expectations vary widely, in the United States, more masculine characteristics are valued (Michaelson & Aaland, 1976). Leadership and assertiveness, and other masculine characteristics are valued in work environments and other areas, while more feminine traits such as excessive expression of emotion can be less valuable. However, a combination of these characteristics, or androgyny, allows people to have important leadership skills, but also have empathy and consideration for others, and the ability to address different situations appropriately. Michaelson and Aaland defined androgyny as a combination of self-assertivity and relatedness, self-assertivity being the more masculine characteristic and relatedness being the more feminine trait. It is a combination of sensitive behaviors and controlled emotions. They described masculinity as agency, or having more emotional control and independence, and femininity as communion, or being sensitive to other people. Androgynous people showed characteristics of both.

Psychological androgyny means that one individual can be masculine and feminine at the same time. In certain situations, a person can be assertive, independent and emotional or concerned of the welfare of others (Bem & Martyna, 1976). They also found that college students had more nontraditional responses, meaning that they did not necessarily stick to traditional gender role expectations, and women reported less traditional responses regardless of whether they were among the college group or non-college group. ...

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...relationship (Sakalli-Ugurlu, 2003).

Based on previous research, we hypothesize that participants scoring androgynous or scoring high on both masculine and feminine personality traits will be positively correlated with relationship satisfaction. A more androgynous personality will be linked to higher relationship satisfaction. The length of the relationship participants are involved in may also have an impact on relationship satisfaction. Longer relationships could perceive higher satisfaction because are more comfortable in the relationship. However, longer relationships might indicate less satisfaction if the people involved are getting to know each other better and realize they may not be right for each other. Shorter relationships could indicate more satisfaction if the people involved are in the earlier stages, and are just getting to know each other.

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