TRADITIONAL VS NONTRADITIONAL WOMEN AND MENS PERCEPTIONS OF THE PERSONALITIES AND PHYSIQUES OF IDEAL WOMEN AND MEN

Traditional and nontraditional women and men's perceptions of ideal pe ople, in terms of both traits and physiques, were assessed using 80 ma le and 80 female Caucasian undergraduates as study participants. The d ata indicated that traditional women and men perceived the ideal male as mesomorphic and as having more instrumental than expressive traits. Nontraditional women and men also favored a mesomorphic physique for the ideal male, but they differed from traditionals in that they saw t his mesomorphic male as being androgynous in regard to traits. Concern ing the ideal female, traditional and nontraditional women and men pre ferred an androgynous physique, but they differed in their perceptions of the ideal personality for a woman. Traditional women and men perce ived their ideal women as having more expressive than instrumental tra its, whereas nontraditional women and men saw their ideal women as bei ng androgynous in regard to traits. The results are discussed within t he framework of Bem's gender schema and enculturated lens theories.