Gender Identity and Self Esteem among Educated Young Adults

INTRODUCTIONGender identity can be described as a person's private sense and subjective experience of his or her own gender. Most people develop a gender identity that matches their biological sex. For some, however, their gender identity is different from their biological or assigned sex. Some of these individuals choose to socially, hormonally and/or surgically change their sex to more fully match their gender identity. It is said that gender identity is a good predictor of psychological adjustment.Self esteem refers to a person's overall evaluation or appraisal of her or his own worth. In the mid 1960s, Rosenberg and social learning theorists defined self esteem in terms of a stable sense of personal worth or worthiness. The positive evaluations of self worth create a psychological 'climate' in which persons are better able to avoid or leave risk- producing relationships, resist coercions to engage in risky sexual relationships and drug abuse coercions and perceive personally salient benefits for making a desirable change.Masculine and androgynous children and adults have a higher sense of self esteem, whereas feminine individuals often think poorly of themselves (Alpert-Gills & Connell, 1989; Boldizar, 1991). In line with the above definitions, androgynous individuals are more adaptable- for example, able to show masculine independence or feminine sensitivity, depending on the situation (Taylor & Hall, 1982). They also show greater maturity of moral judgment than individuals with gender - role orientations (Bem, 1977). Recent research has shown that homosexually active men who are in conflict with their gender orientation and who are highly 'closed' in lifestyles exhibit higher levels of HIV risk behavior than their more self - accepting counterparts.Objectives of the studyThe objectives of the present study were to explore among today's educated young adults the following:1. Gender identity and self esteem;2. Gender and age related differences in gender identity (masculinity and femininity scores); and3. Gender, age and gender identity related differences in self esteem.METHODSampleAn incidental sample of 200 respondents was collected for the present study. The criterion for sample selection was based on age and educational qualification. Only those males and females were selected who were pursuing graduation or post graduation courses at Lucknow University (LU) or degree colleges affiliated with LU and were between the age range of 18 to 24 years. Data were collected from 100 males and 100 females. All respondents were unmarried.MEASURES USED IN THE PRESENT STUDYThe measures of the variables used in the present study are described below:Gender IdentityThe gender identity of the respondents was assessed using masculinity (M) and femininity (F) subscales of Bem Sex Role Inventory or BSRI (1974). The masculinity and femininity attributes were measured on a 7 point rating scale, where 1 stood for 'never' or 'almost never true' to 7, that is, 'always' or 'almost true'. To obtain the masculinity score, the scores on 20 masculine attributes were added and divided by 20; to obtain the femininity score, the scores on 20 feminine attributes were added and divided by 20. Therefore, if a respondent scored above 4.9 on masculinity subscale, then s/he was described as masculine, if a respondent scored above 4.9 on femininity subscale, then s/he was described as feminine, if a respondent scored above 4.9 on both masculinity and femininity subscales then s/he was described as androgynous, if a respondent scored below 4.9 on both masculinity and femininity subscales then s /he was described as undifferentiated.Self EsteemTo assess the self esteem of young adults in the present study, Self Esteem Scale by Rosenberg (1965) was used. The scale consists of 10 items that were scored in terms of a 4 point rating scale, that is, 4= 'strongly agree', 3= 'agree', 2= 'disagree', 1= 'strongly disagree'. …