Measuring Sex-Role Attitudes: The Problem of the Well-Meaning Liberal Male

Abstract

Sixteen "well-meaning" and 16 "sincere" liberal males identified on the basis of their Attitudes Toward Women Scale and Bentler Questionnaire protocols, differed significantly in their sex-role self-perceptions, with well-meaning males describing themselves as more feminine. Well-meaning males also had significantly higher Crowne-Marlowe scores, suggesting greater susceptibility to social desirability pressures. Groups did not differ in responses to sexist and nonsexist propaganda, or to the bogus pipeline procedure. Results are discussed in terms of the "identity" and "social desirability" hypotheses forwarded by other researchers. Several methodological problems found in previous research as well as in the present study are identified as the source of much confusion and contradictory evidence regarding the measurement of sex-role attitudes.