Young Adults’ Constructions of Gender Conformity and Nonconformity: A Q Methodological Study

Abstract

This study used Q methodology to investigate constructions of gender conformity and nonconformity in a sample of young adults. Fifty undergraduates sorted a series of statements along a continuum from ‘most agree’ to ‘most disagree’. Topics included gendered behaviour in children and adults, sexuality, intersex, transgender, and gender theories. Participants’ responses reflected four distinct perspectives. Interpretation of the perspectives was based on participants’ placements of the statements, and on interviews with selected participants. The perspectives contained different assumptions about gender and responses to gendered behaviour, particularly gender nonconformity. Yet participants representing each perspective endorsed statements that supported resistance to gender norms. Unidimensional gender scales focused on narrow ranges of gender-related behaviour may mask substantial differences in participants’ perspectives about gender.