The Relationship Between Psychological Androgyny and Performance on Piagetian Spatial Tasks in College Women
Author
Gladysz, Kimberly Lynn
Subject
Women college students -- Psychological testing
Sex role
Metadata
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Past research has shown that males typically perform better than
females on Piagetian spatial tasks. Other studies indicate that
when a task is labelled "masculine" or "feminine", subjects tend
to perform better in the "sex-appropriate" condition. This study
presented the Piagetian spatial tasks in the traditional fashion
as well as in a feminine typed condition. Sex-role identity
rather than gender was examined in relation to spatial skills.
Ninety college women completed the Bern Sex Role Inventory; it was
hypothesized that the androgenous typed females would perform
equally well in both the masculine and the feminine typed
conditions. The rules of horizontality and verticality were
explicitly stated upon completion of the first set of tasks to
determine whether those subjects who had failed, would then learn
and apply the information in subsequent tasks. Results suggest
that androgenous individuals were better able to apply the given
rules in subsequent tasks.