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A psychometric evaluation of the Sex-Role Egalitarianism Scale with African Americans

Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, May, 2004 by LaVerne A. Berkel

Gender role attitudes have been extensively studied because of their importance in understanding and predicting people's beliefs about important issues such as violence against women (Check & Malamuth, 1983), health promoting behaviors (Senn, 2001), and domestic violence culpability (Willis, Hallinan, & Melby, 1996). Gender role attitudes, defined as beliefs about appropriate roles for men and women, are conceptualized on a continuum that ranges from traditional to egalitarian (King & King, 1990). Individuals with traditional gender role attitudes respond to others on the basis of stereotypical beliefs about their sex. Those with egalitarian gender role attitudes, on the other hand, respond to others independently of their sex (King, Beere, King, & Beere, 1981).

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The Sex-Role Egalitarianism Scale (SRES; Beere, King, Beere, & King, 1984; King & King, 1990) has been used in several studies to assess gender role attitudes (e.g., Bernard, 1999; King & King, 1991; Pinsent, 2001; Temple & Osipow, 1997). The scale exists in four versions: (a) SRES-B, 95 items, (b) SRES-K, 95 items, (c) SRES-BB, 25-item form of the SRES B, and (d) SRES-KK, 25-item form of SRES-K. Psychometric properties that have been reported suggest that each of the four versions of the instrument is a reliable and valid measure of gender role attitudes for several groups of people (e.g., nurses, male and female college students, domestic violence offenders, and police officers). However, most of these published studies either relied primarily on European American samples (e.g., Brutus, Montei, Jex, King, & King, 1993; King, King, Carter, Surface, & Stepanski, 1994) or did not adequately describe the racial or ethnic composition of the sample group (e.g., King & King, 1985; Royse & Clawson, 1988). This practice of under utilizing ethnic minorities in research or inadequately describing the samples employed in research is problematic for a number of reasons. First, it violates the guidelines and recommendations set forth by NIMH (cited in Sue, 1999) on the inclusion of minorities in all research, and second, it drastically limits the generalizability of the findings of the research report to diverse groups (Nilsson et al., 2003).

Whereas several other scholars did not include minorities in their research or failed to report the racial composition of their samples, McGhee, Johnson, and Liverpool (2001) specifically assessed the psychometric properties of the SRES-BB with an African American sample to determine the appropriateness of the use of this instrument with African American research participants. As stated by McGhee and her colleagues, this type of examination is necessary because cultural influences may shape beliefs about men's and women's roles. Compared to European Americans, African Americans are usually more accepting of women who work outside of the home and view women's responsibilities as going beyond child rearing (Black, 1996; Hines & Boyd-Franklin, 1996). For example, West and Rose (2000) reported that the low income African American youth in their study did not endorse traditional gender roles for women; however, traditional roles for men were endorsed. In another study, Hill (2002) sought to learn what African American mothers and fathers were teaching their children about gender both didactically and by example. She found that both mothers and fathers consistently expressed verbal support for gender equality. However, although there was some evidence of support for equality on the job, often more traditional values were expected in the home. She also noted that there was frequently a gap between what parents ideally wanted their children to learn and what they demonstrated to their children through division of family labor in the home.

Other researchers have also assessed racial differences in gender role attitudes. For example, Lyson (1986) examined race and sex differences in the gender role attitudes of college students and found that "sex rather than race [was] the primary determinant of sex role attitudes" (p. 423); however, an examination of individual items revealed that, compared to the White students, the Black students in the study viewed motherhood as a more ideal role for women, but also believed that it was appropriate for mothers with school age children to work. Konrad and Harris (2002) used the Bem Sex-Role Inventory to examine differences between the gender role attitudes of African Americans and European Americans, and they reported that, in general, the African Americans held more traditional views than the European Americans. The results showed regional differences, however. For African Americans in the northeastern part of the United States, feminine attributes were seen as appropriate for women, but not for men. Conversely, masculine attributes were seen as appropriate for both men and women. For the African American women respondents in the south, masculine characteristics were seen as acceptable for men only. However, feminine attributes were seen as acceptable for both men and women.

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A psychometric evaluation of the Sex-Role Egalitarianism Scale with African Americans

Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, May, 2004 by LaVerne A. Berkel

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