Consensus about the differing characteristics of men and women exists across groups differing in sex, age, marital status, and education. Masculine characteristics are positively valued more often than feminine characteristics. Positively‐valued masculine traits form a cluster entailing competence; positively‐valued feminine traits reflect warmth‐expressiveness. Sex‐role definitions are incorporated into the self‐concepts of both men and women; moreover, these sex‐role differences are considered desirable by college students and healthy by mental health professionals. Individual differences in sex related self‐concepts are related to sex‐role relevant behaviors such as achieved and ideal family size. Sex‐role perceptions also vary as a function of maternal employment.

A sex-role Stereotype Questionnaire consisting of 122 bipolar items was given to actively functioning clinicians with one of three sets of instructions: To describe a healthy, mature, socially competent (a) adult, sex unspecified, (6) a man, or (c) a woman. It was hypothesized that clinical judgments about the characteristics of healthy individuals would differ as a function of sex of person judged, and furthermore, that these differences in clinical judgments would parallel stereotypic sex-role differences. A second hypothesis predicted that behaviors and characteristics judged healthy for an adult, sex unspecified, which are presumed to reflect an ideal standard of health, will resemble behaviors judged healthy for men, but differ from behaviors judged healthy for women. Both hypotheses were confirmed. Possible reasons for and the effects of this double standard of health are discussed.

The relationship of self-concept to differentially valued sex-role stereotypes was examined. On a questionnaire consisting of 122 bipolar items, 14 male and 80 female college students indicated what typical adult males, adult females, and they, themselves, were like. Results indicated: (a) strong agreement between sexes about differences between men and women, (b) similar differences between the self-concepts of the sexes, and (c) more frequent high valuation of stereotypically masculine than feminine characteristics in both sexes. Contrary to expectation, differentiations between self-concepts and stereotypic concepts of masculinity and femininity, as a function of social desirability, were not found.The existence of sex-role stereotypes, that is, consensual beliefs about the differing characteristics of men and women in our society, is well documented (

A hypothesis that known sex differences in cognitive abilities reflect sex-related differences in physiology is offered. Females surpass males on simple, overleafried, perceptual-motor tasks; Wales excel oh mdre complex tasks requiring an inhibition of immediate responses to obvious stimulus attributes in favor of responses to less obvious stimulus attributes. It is hypothesized that these sex differences are reflections of differences in relationships between adrenergic activating and cholinergic inhibitory neural processes, which, in turn, are sensitive to the "sex" hbrmotles, androgens and estrogens. Studies Of the effects Of drug and hormone administration's oil these behaviors; dnd of sex hormones on adrenergic arid cholinergic neuro-transmitters are examined. Implications for cross-sectional correlative analyses of cognitive organization are discussed.