Gender Socialization Scale (GSS)

Abstract

The Gender Socialization Scale (GSS) is a comprehensive psychometric instrument developed by Marina Epstein in 2008 to measure the internalization of diverse and often conflicting messages regarding gender socialization. The scale assesses adherence to traditional gender norms, acceptance of egalitarian views, adherence to sexual standards, and attitudes toward body image and sexual orientation. The GSS is particularly useful for researchers studying how gender-related expectations and conflicts impact the psychological well-being of adolescents and young adults.

Keywords

Gender Socialization, Traditional Gender Roles, Egalitarianism, Sexual Double Standard, Adolescents, Psychological Assessment, Body Consciousness, Sex-Positive, Abstinence.

Authors

Marina Epstein

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Gender Socialization Scale (GSS) is to empirically measure the extent to which individuals, specifically adolescents, have internalized various prescriptive and descriptive messages about gender roles, behaviors, and relationships. It was designed to explore the associations between exposure to these messages, resulting gender conflict, and overall psychological adjustment and well-being. By utilizing multiple subscales, the GSS allows for a nuanced understanding of how different facets of gender socialization contribute to individual attitudes and beliefs.

Construct

The GSS measures the psychological construct of gender socialization, defined as the process through which individuals learn the norms, attitudes, and behaviors considered appropriate for their respective gender within a given culture. The scale breaks down this complex construct into nine distinct, yet interrelated, dimensions:

• Traditional Gender Roles: Beliefs emphasizing hierarchical and distinct roles for men and women (e.g., men as providers, women as relational).
• Acceptant and Egalitarian: Beliefs supporting equality between genders in all spheres (home, work, relationships) and promoting psychological openness.
• Nice and Pleasant: Messages related to behavioral constraints, particularly for women, emphasizing politeness, emotional control, and outward happiness.
• Anti-Gay: Attitudes reflecting prejudice or negative views toward homosexual individuals or behaviors, often linked to rigid definitions of masculinity and femininity.
• The Big and Tough: Messages prescribing physical strength, emotional suppression, and competitive success, typically associated with male norms.
• Body Consciousness: Internalized pressures regarding physical appearance, weight, and muscularity, often reflecting societal beauty standards.
• Sexual Double Standard: Beliefs that apply different, often more restrictive, sexual standards to women than to men.
• Abstinence Subscale: Attitudes favoring delaying sexual activity, often until marriage, due to moral or health concerns.
• Sex-Positive Subscale: Attitudes viewing sex as a natural, healthy, and acceptable part of human experience and dating relationships.

Validity

The validity of the GSS was established through its development within a comprehensive doctoral dissertation, which typically includes rigorous testing of construct validity and concurrent validity. The scale’s ability to differentiate between individuals holding varying levels of traditional versus egalitarian beliefs and its correlation with measures of gender conflict and well-being provide evidence of its construct validity. The clear delineation of the nine factors, supported by factor analysis, further strengthens the scale’s validity in measuring distinct aspects of internalized gender messages.

Reliability

The internal consistency of the GSS subscales was assessed using Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients, demonstrating acceptable to strong reliability across most factors, as reported in the original study:

• Traditional Gender Roles: alpha = .87
• Acceptant and Egalitarian: alpha = .83
• The Big and Tough: alpha = .77
• Anti-Gay subscale: alpha = .84
• Sexual Double Standard subscale: alpha = .88
• Abstinence subscale: alpha = .80
• Body Consciousness: alpha = .74
• Sex-Positive subscale: alpha = .69
• Nice and Pleasant: alpha = .62

While the Nice and Pleasant and Sex-Positive subscales show slightly lower, though still acceptable, reliability scores, the majority of the major subscales exhibit high reliability (alpha > .80), indicating strong internal consistency in measuring their respective constructs.

Factor Analysis

The GSS is structured around nine distinct factors identified through factor analysis. These factors group the 83 items into coherent subscales representing specific domains of gender socialization messages. The resulting factor structure allows researchers to analyze attitudes concerning traditional roles, physical toughness, sexual norms, and body image independently, providing a multifaceted view of gender belief systems.

The item distribution across the nine factors is as follows:

• Traditional Gender Roles: items 25, 35, 42, 59, 62, 69, 71, 72, 74 and 80
• Acceptant and Egalitarian: items 4, 9, 15, 20, 30, 46, 64, 67, 75 and 79
• Nice and Pleasant: items 7, 11, 37, 61, 65, 77 and 82
• Anti-Gay: items 17, 38, 43 and 52
• The Big and Tough: items 13, 21, 40, 50, 54 and 66
• Body Consciousness: items 24, 36 and 56
• Sexual Double Standard: items 16, 18, 27, 44, 53, 60, 70, 76, 78, and 83
• Abstinence Subscale: Items 12, 22, 33, 41, 45, 68 and 73
• Sex-Positive Subscale: items 19, 26, 29, 51 and 81

Instrument

Test Type: Psychometric Self-Report Scale

Format: The scale consists of 83 items rated on a 4-point Likert scale, where 0=None, 1=A Little, 2=Some, 3=A Lot.

Language Available: English

Population Group: Students/Youth

Age Group: Adolescents and Young Adults

Population Details: The scale was developed and validated within a study focusing on adolescents in conflict.

Test Methodology: Respondents indicate the degree to which they agree or endorse the gender-related statements provided, reflecting their internalized socialization messages.

Keywords

Gender Roles, Gender Conflict, Well-being, Masculinity, Femininity, Psychometrics, Attitude Measurement, Sexual Norms, Sexual Double Standard.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in source material (Affiliation is University of Michigan).

Correspondence Address: Not provided in source material.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The GSS was developed in 2008 by Marina Epstein as part of her PhD dissertation at the University of Michigan. Usage and permissions should typically be sought from the author or the affiliated university, though academic scales found within dissertations are often available for non-commercial research purposes provided proper citation is given.

Test Year: 2008

Reference’s

The instrument is detailed in the following academic work:

Epstein, Marina. 2008. Adolescents in Conflict: Associations between Gender Socialization, Gender Conflict, and Well-being. University of Michigan. Dissertations and Theses (PhD).

The scale items can be found on pages 131-132 of the dissertation. The dissertation is available online at: http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/60708

The original PDF can be downloaded here: http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/60708/marinae_1.pdf?sequence=1

Items of the Gender Socialization Scale (GSS)

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

1. Stand up for yourself; don’t let people walk all over you
2. It is a man’s responsibility to provide for his family
3. Men should be the initiators in romantic relations and should be the ones to ask women out
4. It shouldn’t matter how you look; it’s what’s inside that counts
5. Only you can know when you are ready for sex
6. Women are naturally just more nurturing than men
7. It is important to keep your emotions under control
8. Women shouldn’t be too loud or too rowdy
9. A woman can do anything a man can do
10. The father always knows what is best for the family
11. It is not appropriate to lose your temper in public
12. People who have premarital sexual relations risk bringing shame to the family name
13. Don’t settle for anything but the best
14. It is better for a woman to use her “feminine charm” (e.g. flirting, body language) to indicate her interest than to express it directly
15. It is important for both men and women to help take care of the children
16. It’s difficult for men to resist their sexual urges
17. Being gay makes a guy less of a man
18. In dating, the goal for men is “to score” with as many women as they can
19. It is perfectly acceptable for women to make the first move and to ask men out directly
20. People are people; gender doesn’t matter
21. Never show fear
22. The primary goal of sexual intercourse is to have children
23. Mothers need to be there for their children when the children are young
24. Your body is never good enough the way it is
25. Men are natural-born leaders
26. Being sexual is a natural part of being human
27. Men lose respect for women who sleep with them too early in the relationship
28. People will think you are weak/soft if you talk about your problems.
29. Women have just as many sexual urges and desires as men
30. Men and women should treat each other as equals at home, school, and at work
31. Family comes first
32. If you are overweight, you will have a hard time finding a date
33. You should abstain from sex until marriage to avoid getting pregnant or getting someone pregnant
34. Relationships work better when men and women work together and neither is more in charge
35. Women are happiest when they are in a relationship
36. Sex is a private matter and should not be discussed in private
37. Being polite is more important than getting your way
38. Men shouldn’t touch other men
39. It is important to look good, no matter how much time or energy it takes
40. It is important to act strong and together even if you are freaking out inside.
41. Abstinence is the best policy. Just say no
42. One’s life isn’t quite complete without a boyfriend/girlfriend
43. Being gay is bad/wrong
44. Men will say whatever they need to say to get a woman into bed
45. Sex belongs only in married relationships
46. Keeping things inside isn’t healthy
47. It is inappropriate to masturbate or touch yourself for sexual pleasure
48. A man should be muscular
49. The human body is nothing to be ashamed of
50. Quitting is for losers
51. having sex should be viewed as just a normal part of dating relationships
52. There’s nothing wrong with being gay
53. Men are mostly interested in women as potential sex partners and don’t want to be “just friends” with a woman
54. You need to be strong enough to defend yourself in a physical fight
55. It is worse for a woman to sleep around than it is for a man
56. A girl has to be thin to be beautiful
57. A woman needs a man who will protect her
58. It is not appropriate to hug and kiss your partner in front of members of your family
59. No man wants a woman to boss him around
60. It is up to women to limit the sexual advances of men and to keep them from “going too far”
61. A part of being nice is pretending to be happy even if you don’t feel like it
62. There is something wrong with people who don’t have a boyfriend/girlfriend
63. In order to catch a man, a woman should not be too friendly or available, but should play “hard to get”
64. It is important to help those who can’t help themselves.
65. having children adds meaning to one’s life
66. A real man will not hesitate to fight to defend himself or his woman
67. There’s no shame in asking for help
68. People who have sex before marriage typically regret it later
69. A husband’s career is more important than the wife’s
70. Men want as much as they can get on the first date
71. A real man gets what he wants
72. A woman should cater to her man’s needs
73. Sex outside of marriage is a sin
74. Never let them see you cry
75. Use your words, not your fists
76. Men think about sex all the time
77. Always put others’ feelings before your own
78. Almost all men cheat some of the time
79. Be a leader, not a follower
80. A husband shouldn’t have to do housework
81. No sexual act should be considered immoral as long as both parties are consenting adults
82. You need to go along with what others want to get along.
83. Men want sex, women want relationships