The Psychological Study of Gender: Moving Beyond the Binary

Quantitative gender research within Psychology has traditionally been limited and inherently exclusionary of people with non-binary genders. Focusing research on aspects of gender with inclusive methods can allow us to develop a more fundamental understanding of gender beyond just masculinity and femininity. The present study explores the validity of two measures of gender self-schema gender salience and schematic breadth to demonstrate how such methods can be both more inclusive and lead to a more nuanced understanding of gender. Schematic breadth was explored separately between three types role, presentation/performance, and identity and between gender groups. Notably, non-binary people were found to use significantly fewer role terms than other genders. This suggests that gender role may take on a different meaning for non-binary people, supporting the idea that new approaches are required to understand gender in an inclusive way that moves beyond the binary of masculinity and femininity.