SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Femininity”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,099 records · Page 61Linked to original sources

PubMed1987

Psychological evaluation and preparation of the patient and family.

The suspected and confirmed diagnosis of cancer places stress on the patient and the family. In addition to the feelings of helplessness, guilt, frustration, alienation, and vulnerability that a diagnosis of cancer provokes, the diagnosis of gynecologic cancer can exacerbate these feelings due to its relationship to the perceived physiologic core of femininity, sexuality, and motherhood. Evaluation of the patient's existing coping skills, perceived seriousness of the illness, anticipated loss of control over physical functioning, and available family support is an essential part of the treatment plan. Preparing the patient and family for diagnosis and treatment is enhanced by supportive intervention techniques such as provision of accurate information, exploration of the patient's fears and fantasies, restoration of degrees of control in the patient's life, and exposure to peer support groups.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1976

Avowed approval of psychotherapy session content among novice A and B therapists.

The present data thus affirm previous research that attributes a more accepting style to A therapists. Specifically, A therapists expressed greater avowed approval of in-therapy discussion of unusual thought and behavior, subjective material such as dreams and fears, and certain nontraditional attitudes toward divorce and feminine roles. Similarly, psychology trainees on the whole expressed greater approval of unusual and subjective material and were more favorable in their attitude toward discussion of certain family difficulties and therapeutic progress than were psychiatry residents.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed1977

A factor analysis of the Bem Sex-Role Inventory.

The present study presents a factor analysis of items of the Bem Sex-Role Inventory of independent masculinity and femininity dimensions. Some support was given to the independence of M and F dimensions, but because these together accounted for only 17% of the variance and many other factors were extracted, it was concluded that two dimensions only may be too simplistic a view of this sex-role inventory.

Adult↗

PubMed1978

The BSRI M, F, and androgyny scores are bipolar.

Demonstrates that the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) masculinity (M), femininity (F), and Androgyny scores reflect a bipolar dimension rather than two independent dimensions and their unique derivative. The mean endorsement of the BSRI M and F items was calculated for 50 males and 50 females separately and as a combined group. The BSRI M and F items then were scored in a bipolar fashion. A total Bipolar Androgyny score was calculated for each S by summing the S's Bipolar Androgyny scores on the M and F items. The data indicated that (1) Bem's M scores and the derived Bipolar Androgyny scores based on Bem's M items were highly correlated (congruent to .90); (2) Bem's F scores and the Bipolar Androgyny scores based on Bem's F items were highly correlated (congruent to .90); and (3) Bem's Androgyny scores and the total Bipolar Androgyny scores were highly correlated (congruent to .90). These results indicate that the BSRI Androgyny score reflects a bipolar dimension.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1979

The relationship of sex role and levels of defensiveness to self-reports of fear and anxiety.

Examined the conclusions of previous research that found that femine Ss perceive themselves as experiencing greater fear and anxiety than Ss with a masculine sex-role orientation. The current study hypothesizes that these results may be confounded by the amount of expressive defensiveness exhibited by Ss (N = 99), independent of their sex-role orientation. The results, however, indicated that feminine Ss perceived themselves as experiencing greater fear than either androgynous or masculine Ss, regardless of their level of defensiveness. Contrary to previous research, there were no significant effects of either sex-role orientation or level of defensiveness on self-reported anxiety.

Anxiety↗

PubMed1984

Psychological health of young adults who experienced early parent death: MMPI trends.

Psychological effects that result from childhood parent loss by death are of substantial clinical and research importance. Parent loss has been linked with various psychopathology, though little is known of its effects on subsequent psychological health (a) as a function of the child's sex; (b) in normal individuals; (c) where early parent separation also has occurred. This study provides data on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-168 (MMPI-168) that address these issues. Ss were normals (16 males and 16 females per group) divided into three groups: Early bereaved (up to age 7), late bereaved (ages 12 to 18), and nonbereaved. In 50% of the bereaved individuals, two or more MMPI-168 clinical scales were pathologically abnormal compared with 28% of controls. Significant parent loss by child's sex interaction effects were obtained on Psychopathic Deviate, Masculinity-Femininity, Psychasthenia, and Schizophrenia scales. A significant effect was found for early parent separation on the Schizophrenia scale.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1986

Sex-role orientation as a predictor of preferential cognitive response style.

This study investigated the relationship between sex-role orientation and cognitive preferential response style (N = 60). It attempted to use scores on the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) to predict the Erlebnistypus (EB) ratio of the Rorschach. Although masculine and androgynous individuals were expected to demonstrate extratensive and intraversive cognitive styles, respectively, no such distinction was apparent. However, feminine individuals did demonstrate significantly an ambitent response style in which neither human movement nor weighted color was dominant. Results were discussed in terms of increased construct validity for both of the measures utilized.

Cognition↗

PubMed1987

Use of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) as a screening instrument at a community mental health center.

Comparison of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) and clinician-generated DSM-III diagnoses for a sample of psychiatric outpatients (N = 72) indicated only chance agreement. The MCMI was of limited use as a screening device because of overdiagnosis and failure to identify individuals who prematurely terminated treatment. Other potential problems with the instrument included substantial intercorrelation among scales and possible pathologizing of stereotypic feminine traits. The characteristic structure of the MCMI appeared stable across patient samples; there was evidence for identification of a mean profile for psychiatric patients who voluntarily seek treatment for subjective distress.

Adult↗

PubMed1988

The effects of role-playing high gender identification on the California Psychological Inventory.

This study of the California Psychological Inventory (CPI) demonstrates that subjects can alter significantly their CPI profiles through role-playing high gender identification, i.e., males attempt to appear more masculine and women attempt to appear more feminine. The majority of these subjects did so without being detected by the validity scales designed to detect faking good or bad. Thirty-two volunteers, 16 male and 16 female, participated as subjects. A 2 X 2 ANOVA (subject gender by instructions to role-play vs. standard instructions) design was used. A significant main effect (p less than .01) for instructions was found on 14 of 18 scales and a significant interaction effect (p less than .01) on 4 of 18 scales. The profiles from the role-playing subjects indicate that the stereotypes of both genders, as seen by these subjects, are maladaptive. Implications for practical application of these findings are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1988

Have MMPI MF scale correlates changed in the past 30 years?

This study was designed to investigate whether behavioral correlates of the MMPI Masculinity-Femininity (MF) scale are similar to or different from those established in the 1950s, given the many social and cultural changes that have taken place since then. There were 306 participants in the study, 102 target subjects (51 males, 51 females) and 204 same-sex friends. The former were administered the first 399 items of the MMPI, the Interpersonal Adjective Scale (IAS), and other questionnaires. The friends described each subject on the IAS. Low MF females were rated by themselves and their peers as tender and emotional, whereas high MF females considered themselves exploitative and self-confident and were rated as bold and unsympathetic by their peers. Low MF males described themselves as domineering and impersonal and were described by their peers as well-mannered. High MFs saw themselves as undemanding and shy and were perceived as emotional by their peers. It appears that the behavioral correlates established a generation ago are still valid today, at least for college students.

Dominance-Subordination↗

PubMed1990

Sex, sex role identification, and college students' projective drawings.

A study of 109 undergraduates found that sex and sex role identification, as assessed by the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI), were related significantly to sex sequence, sexual differences, and quality of drawing on the Draw-A-Person (DAP). Specifically, males and masculine persons tended to draw males first, female and feminine persons tended to draw females first, and androgynous persons were equally likely to draw a male or a female first. The greater the sexual differentiation of the female human figure drawing, the lower the subject's degree of masculinity. The single best predictor for identifying a female subject was the quality of the female figure drawing. Results were consistent with Machover's hypothesis that drawings of the human figure reveal facets of the subject's self-image.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1990

The construct validity of an aftereffect-based subtyping system for alcoholics.

In an earlier project, we identified five alcohol-consumption aftereffect factors, which were named Hangover, Euphoria, Flushing, Seizures, and Sleepiness. In this study (N = 100) we assessed the construct validities of the five, using 47 MMPI, self-report, and recidivism criteria. The number of significant relationships between the factors and the criteria substantially exceeded chance. The Hangover factor related to social maladjustment and to the MMPI Psychopathic Deviate, Paranoia, Psychasthenia, Hypomania, and Masculinity-Femininity scales. The Euphoria factor was associated with a high number of job losses, but a low incidence of certain physical sequelae. The Flushing factor was associated with high consumption, late development of alcoholism, many physical complaints, and older age. The Seizure factor correlated with high consumption, facial puffiness, tremors, and lack of defensiveness on the MMPI. The Sleepiness factor was associated with a good prognosis and several mild MMPI elevations. These findings suggest that the factors may provide the basis for a useful alcoholism subtyping system and that additional research on them should prove fruitful.

Adult↗

PubMed1990

The 4-5-6 configuration on the MMPI in bulimics vs. controls.

The 4-5-6 configuration on the MMPI for females has been associated with problems in the direct expression of anger, as well as excessive dependency and affectional needs (Greene, 1980). Because these characteristics frequently have been ascribed to bulimic women, we hypothesized that the incidence of the 4-5-6 configuration would be greater for bulimic women (n = 26) than for female outpatients (n = 40) or a nonpsychiatric population (n = 31). We did not find the predicted differences in incidence of the 4-5-6 configuration in a study that used conventional cut-offs and treated the configuration as a discrete variable. However, when the characteristic was measured as a continuous variable, the nonpsychiatric population differed significantly from both clinical populations. Results are discussed in terms of feminine role conflict as a factor that differentiates women who seek psychiatric treatment from those who do not.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1991

The perception of attractiveness: what about the beholders?

This study asked whether there is a relationship between heterosexually relevant dimensions and perception of female attractiveness and femininity. Two hundred and forty-nine undergraduate males rated 22 photographs of young women on these two dimensions. Seventy-nine of these subjects also took the Macho Scale, the Survey of Heterosexual Interactions, and the Bem Sex Role Inventory. Results showed that high Macho subjects viewed most of the photographed women as less attractive than low Macho subjects did. Masculinity/femininity and heterosexual anxiety showed less of a relationship. As predicted, moderately attractive women were described most differently by the high Macho/low Macho raters.

Adult↗

PubMed1993

Male perceptions of female attractiveness: the effects of targets' personal attributes and subjects' degree of masculinity.

This study examined the relationship between the degree of sexist beliefs held toward women by male subjects and their perceptions of attractiveness of females described as possessing either masculine or feminine personality characteristics. One hundred twenty-two undergraduate males were given the Macho Scale, the Auburn University Personal Behavior Summary, a biodata sheet, and were asked to judge previously rated photographs of women along a dimension of attractiveness. Results demonstrated that males perceived physically unattractive and average females described as affectionate and compassionate as more attractive than similarly rated females described as independent and assertive. High Macho subjects viewed females as less attractive than low Macho subjects. Physical attractiveness of the male subjects was largely unrelated to their ratings of the females.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1994

The stability and prediction of depressive mood states in college students.

Objective criteria for predicting dysphoric mood states in college students from measures of stress and cognitive and personality variables were developed and cross-validated. Contrary to Beck's diathesis-stress model of depression, although dysfunctional attitudes, together with the number and impact of life events, self-esteem problems, and level of traditional feminine personality characteristics, predicted concurrent levels of depressive symptoms, initial level of depression was the best predictor of future depression. Cross-validation of the criteria resulted in accuracy rates of 86 to 87%. Implications of these results and some secondary findings were discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1994

Qualitative analysis and eating disorders: discourse analytic research on anorexia nervosa.

The absence of qualitative analysis in mainstream research on eating disorders is discussed in the following article as being a weakness in developing theory and clinical practice. This article includes an analysis of interviews with British health-care workers who manage anorexic patients. This analysis presents an example of qualitative methodology in the form of discourse analysis, which is argued to provide a systematic, yet flexible approach to research on eating disorders. The overwhelming prevalence of anorexia nervosa in women is specifically examined within the context of the identification of the "discourse of femininity." The research findings are discussed in relation to the use of discursive practices that contribute to the maintenance and reproduction of clinical processes and their relative efficacy.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Clinical follow-up after bilateral risk reducing ('prophylactic') mastectomy: mental health and body image outcomes.

BACKGROUND: In Manchester, approximately 120 women at > or = 1:4 lifetime risk of breast cancer have considered preventative surgery since 1992. Women treated within the Manchester protocol receive two genetic counselling sessions, a psychological assessment and a surgical consultation pre-operatively and annual follow-up post-operatively. The vast majority of women have breast reconstruction. METHODS: Since 1996, mental health and body image have been assessed in women attending annual follow-up using self-report questionnaires: the 28-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and 10-item Body Image Scale (BIS). Women with high scores are assessed by clinical interview together with a proportion who have no significant problems. RESULTS: Between 1995 and 1999, 76 women completed surgery. Ten were awaiting post-operative review and 60 (91%) attended for follow-up of whom 45 (75%) were interviewed. Questionnaire data were available for 52 (79%) women, mean age 40.8 years (range 27-58). Six women were gene mutation carriers and of these three had had breast cancer. One additional patient was affected but had not been genetically tested. Eight (17%) of 47 women with assessments in the first post-operative year scored in the 'caseness' range on the GHQ: the mean GHQ score was 3.8 (S.D. 6.7), range 0-25. Results were comparable with those for women attending the Family History Clinic for risk assessment. The mean score on the BIS was 5.1 (S.D. 5.5), range 0-25, comparable with scores for women undergoing conservative surgery for breast cancer. Twenty-one percent of women reported no negative change in body image following surgery (i.e. zero questionnaire summary scores) and the majority of changes reported were of minor degree (item scores 0 or 1). The most frequently reported changes were in sexual attractiveness (55%), feeling less physically attractive (53%) and self-consciousness about appearance (53%): a third of women felt less feminine to a minimal degree. These results appeared stable over time. A minority of women had more serious psychological or body image concerns, usually in relation to surgical complications: they received further psychiatric intervention. CONCLUSIONS: For the majority of women there is no evidence of significant mental health or body image problems in the first 3 years following Bilateral Prophylactic Mastectomy (BPM), but women who have complications warrant additional psychological help. Careful pre-operative preparation and long-term monitoring are advocated in this new field of cancer prevention.

Adult↗