A caveat on the use of rating scales to assess masculinity and femininity

Sixty occupations were rated for degree of masculinity and femininity on four different rating scales: a bipolar Femininity-Masculinity scale (Fem-Masc); a unipolar Femininity scale (Fem); a unipolar Masculinity scale (Masc); and a percent of each sex in an occupation scale (% Sex). High correlations were found among all four rating scales for both sexes, suggesting that subjects view masculinity and femininity measured by rating scales as unidimensional. Males and females also agreed on relative rankings of the occupations on the scales. It was concluded that since personality inventory measures of masculinity and femininity are not unidimensional, rating scale approaches to measuring masculinity and femininity may give misleading results.