EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE SOCIALLY DESIRABLE AND UNDESIRABLE ASPECTS OF AGENCY AND COMMUNION

Two theories addressing the relationship between the socially desirabl e and undesirable elements of agency and communion have been proposed. In their 1979 study, Spence, Helmreich, and Holahan suggest that agen cy is negatively related to an unmitigated or undesirable, sense of co mmunion, while communion is negatively correlated with a sense of unmi tigated agency. On the other hand, Wiggins and Holzmuller, in their st udy of 1978, believe the desirable and undesirable aspects of agency a re related to one another in a bipolar manner and that a similar relat ionship exists for the two domains of communion. While most appear to treat the differences between these two theories as a psychometric iss ue, the implications each has for understanding issues such as the soc ialization of gender-typed personality characteristics remain unaddres sed. This paper provides a direct and comprehensive comparison of the two approaches. A sample of mostly Caucasian participants completed a variety of gender role measures and support emerged for aspects of bot h theories. Discussion centers on the meaning of the undesirable gende r role concept.