Masculinity-femininity and accuracy of sex role ascription

To examine relationships between masculinity-femininity, presence of same or opposite sex sibling, and accuracy of cross-sex role-taking, 92 male and female undergraduates classified the 20 items comprising Smith’s (1968) Masculinity-Femininity Scale according the sex-role characteristics. Femininity and role-taking accuracy were positively correlated among males and negatively correlated among females, but only 1 of the 4 comparisons for sibling effects reached significance. It is suggested that greater role-taking accuracy among feminine scoring-males and masculine scoring-females results from problematic sex-role identification, and the findings are interpreted in terms of stabilizing mechanisms postulated by interpersonal congruency theory.