Sex Roles, Task Competence, and Conformity

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Abstract
The purpose of the investigation was to determine the relative importance of sex roles and task competence as regards the relationship between sex and conformity. The Ss in Study I were 68 American students; half were male, and the other half female. The Ss were tested by means of a Conformity Instrument and a Masculinity-Femininity scale. The results show that task competence acts as a between-sex factor in that females conformed more than males only on masculine items, but on feminine items the opposite was the case. However, sex role acts as a within-sex factor, since, in general, feminine females and males conformed more than masculine males and females. The Ss in Study II were 19 female members of the National Organization of Women (NOW) and 12 control females. The NOW Ss conformed less than the control Ss, but the two groups obtained similar scores on the femininity scale. It can be said that the nature of the task is indeed an important variable in the relationship between sex and conformity, but sex role remains a crucial variable in determining conformity; i. e., the greater the rejection of the conventional feminine role, manifested through psychological masculinity or active involvement with the women's movement, the lesser the degree of conformity.

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