DEVELOPMENT OF THE GENDER-ROLE BELIEFS SCALE (GRBS)

This research constructs a brief psychometrically sound unidimensional , self-report measure of gender role ideology, defined here as prescri ptive beliefs about appropriate behavior for men and women. Scale deve lopment involved 118 undergraduates (102 women and 16 men, mean age = 29.1 years), 40 ''feminist'' women (mean age = 25.4 years) and 35 ''tr aditional'' women (mean age = 53.2 years). An initial pool of 150 item s was reduced to a 20-item scale using three converging statistical cr iteria for item selection. The final scale, the Gender Role Beliefs Sc ale (GRBS), has strong internal consistency and test-retest reliabilit y. Validity for the GRBS is demonstrated by large correlations with a criterion measure, significant mean differences among groups represent ing variations in traditionalism, and significant mean gender differen ces. Overall, results build toward the construct validity of the GRBS.