Relationships of Objective and Projective Dependency Scores to Sex Role Orientation in College Student Participants

Research on the dependency-sex role orientation relationship indicates that when objective dependency measures are used, participants show positive correlations between dependency and femininity scores, and negative correlations between dependency and masculinity scores. In this study, a mixed-sex sample of 87 undergraduates (47 women and 40 men) completed widely used objective and projective measures of dependency, and a self-report measure of sex role orientation. Consistent with previous studies in this area, high objective dependency scores were associated with high femininity scores and low masculinity scores in participants of both sexes. There were no relationships between projective dependency scores and sex role orientation scores in participants of either sex. Findings are discussed in the context of theoretical frameworks that distinguish "implicit" dependency needs from "self-attributed" dependency needs. The role that sex role socialization experiences play in determining participants' willingness to acknowledge dependency-related traits and behaviors on self-report tests is also discussed.