Gender Identity (Femininity)

What it measures

A multiple-item Likert-type scale designed to measure the degree to which a person indicates having feminine personality and behavioral characteristics.

Response format

7-point scale

Scale items

• Affectionate
• Cheerful
• Childlike
• Compassionate
• Does not use harsh language
• Eager to soothe hurt feelings
• Feminine
• Flatterable
• Gentle
• Gullible
• Loves Children
• Loyal
• Sensitive to the needs of others
• Shy
• Soft spoken
• Sympathetic
• Tender
• Understanding
• Warm
• Yielding
• Barak and Stern (1985/86) calculated scale scores on just ten of these items (unspecified). The scale anchors were Never or almost never true (1) and Always or

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Reported alpha coefficients range from .76 to .85 across samples or studies. Factor analytic procedures were used to support the scale's structural validity.

Citation

Barak, Benny and Barbara Stern (1985/1986), “Women’s Age in Advertising: An Examination of Two Consumer Age Profiles,” Journal of Advertising Research, 25 (Dec./Jan.), 38-47. Bem, Sandra L. (1974), “The Measurement of Psychological Androgyny,” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42 (2), 155-62.

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