Theory and research on alcoholism suggest that psychological masculini
ty and femininity and self-esteem are related to drinking problems in
women. In a sample of 60 alcoholic and 60 nonalcoholic women, hypothes
es derived from contemporary sex-role theory were contrasted with pred
ictions from a coping styles perspective. Support was found only for t
he sex-role theory hypotheses. The two groups differed in levels of ma
sculinity, femininity and self-esteem. These differences were reflecte
d in the clustering of the low self-esteem, alcoholic women in the und
ifferentiated sex-role orientation category. The high self-esteem, non
alcoholic women were predominantly androgynous and masculine sex-typed
. Psychological masculinity was the major factor distinguishing alcoho
lic from non-alcoholic women, as well as a better predictor of self-es
teem than alcoholism.