Citation

Minnigerode FA, Lee JA. Sex Roles 1978; 4(4): 563-569.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1978, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/BF00287200

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Fifty male and 50 female undergraduates rated 10 age-sex targets (Boy, Girl, Adolescent Boy, Adolescent Girl, Young Man, Young Woman, Middle-aged Man, Middle-Aged Woman, Old Man and Old Woman) on 12 semantic differential scales. Compared with female targets, male targets were rated higher on potency and activity scales and lower on evaluative scales. Semantic distance between male and female targets showed a curvilinear relationship with target age. Results suggested that young adult subjects perceive that sex-role differences first increase and then decrease across the life span.