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Into the Black Box: Sex and Gender in the Study on Decision-Making – An Evidence from a Slovak Sample

  • Magdalena Adamus ORCID logo and Eva Ballová Mikušková ORCID logo EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: December 19, 2022

Abstract

The main goal of the paper was to obtain insights into how gender measures can be incorporated into quantitative research on risk-related behaviour. We explored relations between the measures (short versions of Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI), Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ), and Traditional Masculinity-Femininity (TMF) scale) and their explanatory power in relation to risky behaviours (Decision Outcome Inventory, DOI). The sample consisted of 470 adults (238 men). The corresponding BSRI and PAQ subscales correlated significantly, while TMF correlated positively with the femininity subscales. All the instruments demonstrated good internal consistency and the measures explained a significant portion of risky behaviour. The results suggest that, although sex is a proxy of behaviour, using a measure of the gender-related aspects of identity could enhance understanding of risk-related behaviour. Finally, men and women viewed themselves as equally masculine, indicating that gender stereotypes about desirability of agentic characteristics change.


Corresponding author: Eva Ballová Mikušková, Centre of Social and Psychological Sciences, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia, E-mail:

Funding source: The study was supported by VEGA grant 2/0146/22: Psychological constructs and contextual frameworks determining the intention of girls and women to study ICT fields.

  1. Research funding: The study was supported by VEGA grant 2/0146/22: Psychological constructs and contextual frameworks determining the intention of girls and women to study ICT fields.

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Received: 2022-01-27
Revised: 2022-10-03
Accepted: 2022-10-18
Published Online: 2022-12-19
Published in Print: 2023-02-23

© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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