Chapter 11 Gender and Behavior
EXERCISE 11.1 Self-Assessment: Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ)
Instructions
The items below inquire about what kind of a person you think you are. Each item consists of a pair of
characteristics, with the letters A–E in between. For example:
Not at all artistic A B C D E Very artistic
Each pair describes contradictory characteristics—that is, you cannot be both at the same time, such as
very artistic and not at all artistic.
The letters form a scale between the two extremes. You are to enter a letter that describes where you fall
on the scale. For example, if you think you have no artistic ability, you would enter A. If you think you are
pretty good, you might enter D. If you are only medium, you might enter C, and so forth.
The Scale
1. Not at all aggressive A B C D B Very aggressive
2. Not at all independent A B C D E Very independent
3. Not at all emotional A B C D E Very emotional
4. Very submissive A B C D E Very dominant
5. Not at all excitable in a A B C D E Very excitable in a
major crisis major crisis
6. Very passive A B C D E Very active
7. Not at all able to devote self A B C D E Able to devote self
completely to others completely to others
8. Very rough A B C D B Very gentle
9. Not at all helpful to others A B C D E Very helpful to others
_……._1O. Not at all competitive A B C D E Very competitive
11. Very home oriented A B C D E Very worldly
12. Not at all kind A B C D E Very kind
..13. Indifferent to others’ A B C D E Highly needful of others’
approval approval
14. Feelings not easily hurt A B C D E Feelings easily hurt
15. Not at all aware of feelings A B C D E Very aware of feelings
of others of others
_………16. Can make decisions easily A B C D E Have difficulty making
17. Give up very easily
…_……..18. Never cry
19. Not at all self-confident
20. Feel very inferior
.._.21. Not at all understanding of
others
_…….22. Very cold in relations
with others
__….23. Very little need for security
.. ……..24. Go to pieces under
pressure
Source: Spence & Helmreich (1978)
A B C D B
A B C D E
A B C D E
A B C D E
A B C D E
A B C D E
A B C D E
A B C D E
decisions
Never give up easily
Cry very easily
Very self-confident
Feel very superior
Very understanding of
others
Very warm in relations
with others
Very strong need for
security
Stand up well under
pressure
PERSONAL EXPLORATIONS WORKBOOK W-35
Scoring the Scale
The Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ) is made up of three
8-item subscales, but we are only going to compute scores for two
of these subscales, so the first step is to eliminate the 8 items from
the unused subscale. Put an X in the spaces to the left of the items
for the following items: 1, 4, 5, 11, 13, 14, 18, and 23. These items
belong to the subscale that we won’t be using, and they can be
ignored. Of the remaining items, one (item 16) is reverse-scored as
follows: If you circled A, enter 4 in the space to the left of the item
if you circled B, enter 3; if you circled C, enter 2; if you circled D,
enter 1; and if you circled E, enter 0. All the rest of the items are
scored in the following manner: A = 0, B = 1, C = 2, D = 3, and
E = 4. Based on the responses you circled, enter the appropriate
numbers for the remaining items in the spaces to the left of the
items.
The next step is to compute your scores on the femininity and
masculinity subscales of the PAQ. To compute your score on the
femininity subscale, add up the numbers next to items 3, 7, 8, 9, 12,
15, 21, and 22, and enter your score in the space below. To compute
your score on the masculinity subscale, add up the numbers
next to items 2, 6, 10, 16, 17, 19, 20, and 24, and enter your score
in the space below.
My score on the femininity subscale
My score on the masculinity subscale
What the Scale Measures
Devised by Janet Spence and Robert Helmreich (1978), the PAQ
assesses masculinity and femininity in terms of respondents’
self-perceived possession of various personality traits that are
stereotypically believed to differentiate the sexes. The authors
emphasize that the PAQ taps only limited aspects of sex roles: certain
self-assertive/instrumental traits traditionally associated with
masculinity and certain interpersonal/expressive traits traditionally
associated with femininity. Although the PAQ should not be
viewed as a global measure of masculinity and femininity, it has
been widely used in research to provide a rough classification of
subjects in terms of their gender-role identity. As explained in your
text, people who score high in both masculinity and femininity are
said to be androgynous. People who score high in femininity and
low in masculinity are said to be feminine sex-typed. Those who
score high in masculinity and low in femininity are characterized as
masculine sex-typed, and those who score low on both dimensions
are said to be sex-role undifferentiated.
My femininity score
High Low
(above median) (at or below median)
24-32 0-23
Masculine
gender-typed
Androgynous (if male)
or
cross-gender-typed
. (if female)
= = Feminine
gender-typed
E E (if female) Undifferentiated
Z°2 or -J U . cross-gender-typed
(if male)
Interpreting Your Score
You can use the chart here to classify yourself in terms of genderrole
identity. Our norms are based on a sample of 715 college
students studied by Spence and Helmreich (1978). The cutoffs
for “high” scores on the masculinity and femininity subscales are
the medians for each scale. Obviously, these are arbitrary cutoffs,
and results may be misleading for people who score very close to
the median on either scale, as a difference of a point or two could
change their classification. Hence, if either of your scores is within
a couple of points of the median, you should view your gender-role
classification as tentative. Also, keep in mind that the perception
of some of these traits has changed over time. As mentioned in
your text, some of the traditional masculine traits aren’t viewed as
strictly masculine today.
My classification
What percentage of subjects falls into each of the four gender-role
categories? The exact breakdown will vary depending on the nature
of the sample, but Spence and Helmreich (1978) reported the following
distribution for their sample of 715 college students.
Category Males Females
Androgynous 25% 35%
Feminine 8% 32%
Masculine 44% 14%
Undifferentiated 23% 18%
W-36 PERSONAL EXPLORATIONS WORKBOOK
