Sex and personality : Studies in masculinity and femininity / Lewis M. Terman, Catharine Cox Miles.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Terman, Lewis M., author.

Miles, Catharine Cox, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sex (Psychology).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 600 pages)

Other Title:

Sex and personality

Place of Publication:

New York : McGraw-Hill, 1936.

Summary:

"Sex differences in personality and temperament are matters of universal human interest. They are rapidly coming to be recognized as one of the central problems in anthropology, sociology, and psychology. It is well that they should be so recognized; for sex differences are more than a perennial stimulus to idle speculation, wit, and literary art. Mass theories in regard to them are one of the most potent of all the forces that operate in the shaping of human societies. Unfortunately, investigations of masculinity and femininity have been retarded by lack of definiteness with respect to what these terms should connote. Gross departures from even a vaguely denned norm have of course long been recognized, but in the absence of quantitative methods the less extreme deviations are overlooked or misunderstood. The purpose of the investigations here reported has been the accomplishment in the field of masculinity-femininity of something similar to Binet's early achievement in the field of intelligence--a quantification of procedures and of concepts. No one can better realize than the authors how imperfectly they have succeeded in their pioneer attempt. The problem of temperament is no less complex than the problem of abilities. The concepts of masculinity and femininity are even more vague than the nineteenth century concepts of intelligence. Clarity and exactness are seldom attained by a single effort. Indeed, the investigations to be reported have been shaped by the conviction that only the simplest and roughest kind of quantification is at present possible, and that any attempt at exact measurement of the traits in question would, in the present state of psychometric development, be fatuous and unprofitable. The experiment will have justified itself if in some degree it opens the way to more precise measurements and methods"--Preface. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved).

Contents:

Rationale of the masculinity-femininity test

Origin of the M-F test

Extension of the M-F test to new techniques

The M-F test as a whole

Correlations of M-F score with physical measurements and trait ratings

Correlation of M-F score with personality and achievement measures

Relation of M-F score to age, education, and intelligence

Relation of M-F score to occupation

Effect of interests on M-F score

Relation of M-F score to the domestic milieu

A study of male homosexuals

A tentative scale for the measurement of sexual inversion in males

Case studies of homosexual males

Case studies: masculine and feminine types of delinquent girls

Case notes: miscellaneous

Sex temperaments as revealed by the M-F test

Interpretations and conclusions.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.