IMPLICATIONS OF SEX AND GENDER DIFFERENCES FOR SELF - PERCEIVED ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF BEING THE OTHER GENDER

Undergraduate students (34 females and 28 males/44 Caucasian, 16 Afric an-American, 2 Asian) were asked to list the advantages and the disadv antages that they imagined they would experience if they were the othe r gender A separate group of undergraduate raters then classified each of the statements into one of four categories designed to reflect soc ial (social roles or social appearance) or physical differences (sexua l or non-sexual physical differences) between the sexes. The number of responses each participant generated within each category sewed as th e dependent variable. By far the largest number of responses pertained to the social roles category and there were no participant gender dif ferences for that category. Participant gender differences were observ ed in the social appearance and sexual physical difference categories, indicating males and females agreement that males have more advantage s. Overall, females listed more advantages to a change in gender while males indicated more disadvantages. Results are interpreted as provid ing insights into the personal and practical implications of differenc es between males and females.