Movement Toward Androgyny in College Females Through Experiential Education

Summary College students in a course on the psychology of men and women were subjected to an experiential curriculum designed to facilitate movement towards androgyny. Students in a course on the psychology of sexuality were used as a comparison group. All Ss were given the Bem Sex Role Inventory before and after the courses. Responses were assessed on three Bem scales: masculinity, femininity, and androgyny (scored as endorsement of both masculine and feminine personality characteristics). Exposure to the psychology of men and women course led to significant change toward an androgynous perspective, while exposure to psychology of sexuality did not. At the end of the semester, females from both classes scored significantly higher in masculinity. Only comparison females made a significant move towards femininity, and only treatment females made a significant move towards androgyny. No significant changes were found in either group of male students.