TESTOSTERONE AND SEX-ROLE IDENTIFICATION IN LESBIAN COUPLES

Within the lesbian community there exists a common perception that les bians comprise two types, ''butch,'' having more masculine characteris tics, and ''femme,'' having more feminine characteristics. The present study investigated the question of whether these perceptions are refl ected in different levels of the predominantly male hormone testostero ne. Salivatory testosterone levels and ''butch/femme'' ratings were ob tained from 28 lesbian couples. Individuals within couples tended to b e opposite in ''butch/femme'' ratings [intraclass r(26) = -0.77, p < 0 .001] but similar in testosterone levels [intraclass r(26) = 0.47, p < 0.01]. Also within couples, individuals with higher ''butch'' ratings had significantly higher testosterone levels, although across all ind ividuals as a whole (ignoring couple pairing) there was no correlation between testosterone and ''butch/femme'' ratings. The results indicat e that testosterone is related to ''butch/femme'' characteristics, but only when regarded within the couple relationship.