Study: Romantic attitude of masculinity,femininity,androgyny,undifferentiated

[Kendall]

Looking for love in all the wrong places? One study 8 years ago may explain a correlation between masculinity and femininity.

1999 study concluded comparing birth sex to Sex Role (social-behavioral and attitudes) (femininity versus masculinity traits):
[Note: this doesnt study gender identity however, just the social-behavioral-attitude realms]

While the data from this study indicated a general association between femininity and romantic attitudes, the relative balance between masculine and feminine traits appeared to be a mediating factor in this association for males only.

Thus there were sex differences in the sense of sex roles differentially predicting romantic attitudes for men and women. While there were only very few high feminine, low masculine men in the sample, they were quite low scorers on romantic attitudes.

Also, men who were low on both masculinity and femininity (undifferentiated) were more romantic than undifferentiated women.

Overall, males with a relative balance of masculine and feminine traits (androgynous and undifferentiated) showed stronger romantic attitudes than men who were sex-typed (masculine) or cross sex-typed (feminine).

The most romantic females were, however, the most feminine with respect to their psychological traits. Their level of masculinity was irrelevant to whether they supported romantic attitudes.

One possible explanation for these differences may be that psychologically feminine males hold a marginal status in today's society and could feel threatened by admitting to romantic feelings. Alternatively these results could suggest that men's assessment of their psychological femininity is tempered by their assessment of their psychological masculinity, while women view these dimensions more independently. A range of different research techniques, including qualitative measures such as interviews, may be useful at this point to tease out in more detail male and female beliefs about the role of romantic attitudes in their perceptions of their own sex-role stereotypy.

To read the study of 252 adults in Australia is found at http://www.uiowa.edu/~grpproc/crisp/crisp.4.3.htm

Additional content one could combine with

Here is a huge two gender polar Equation of what love and romance is http://faculty.plattsburgh.edu/alan.marks/Soc%20361/CHAPTER%208%20LOVE%20AND%20ROMANTIC%20RELATIONSHIPS.htm

Taken from the Social Psychological Course (361) taught at Plattsburgh University http://faculty.plattsburgh.edu/alan.marks/Soc%20361/361_downloadable_files.htm