Relationships between Cognitive Flexibility and Sex-Role Orientation in Young Adults

This study examined relationships between sex-role orientation and cognitive flexibility in young adults, specifically, differences in cognitive flexibility between persons with different sex-role orientations and the contributions of masculinity and femininity to the differences observed. A sample of 100 men and 100 women completed the Bern Sex-role Inventory and a test of cognitive flexibility. Androgynous individuals were expected to exhibit greater cognitive flexibility than traditionally sex-typed, i.e., masculine and feminine, or undifferentiated individuals. Men scored significantly higher on this measure than women. Androgynous individuals, as predicted, were cognitively more flexible than were feminine or undifferentiated individuals, but no differences emerged between androgynous and masculine persons. Further study of cognitive correlates of sex-role orientation seem appropriate.