Cognitive mediation of sex-role orientation

Seventy-two androgynous and sex-role stereotyped male undergraduates participated in a study which sought to explore the possible cognitive mediation of sex-role orientation. After reading a paragraph consisting of contrived thought listings of an individual considering the purchase of a car, Ss rated the individual on a set of 60 neutral and sex-typed bipolar constructs, each presented along 13-point Likert-type scales. It was predicted that: (1) Sex-role Stereotyped individuals would employ sex-typed constructs more frequently and more meaningfully (a) than they would utilize neutral constructs, and (b) than would their Androgynous counterparts; and (2) Androgynous individuals would employ neutral constructs more frequently and more meaningfully (a) than they would employ sex-typed constructs, and (b) than would their Sex-role Stereotyped counterparts. Results support all predictions with one exception: androgynous subjects employed sex-typed and neutral constructs with equal meaningfulness. Results were interpreted as lending support to the suggested cognitive mediation of sex-role orientation.