ANDROGYNY, MASCULINITY, AND SELF-ESTEEM*

The Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory and the Rem Sex Role Inventory were administered to 194 adult subjects. It was found that an androgyny scale which emphasized masculinity was most predictive of self-esteem. It was shown that these results were due to the strong independent correlation between masculinity and self-esteem. There were virtually no effects due to femininity, the interaction of femininity and masculinity, or sex. An analysis of the items in the Bem Masculinity Scale suggested that the frequently reported masculinity-self-esteem relationship is an artifact of the inclusion of a “strong self-image” component in the masculine stereotype, despite the fact that this component does not distinguish males from females.