Sandra Bem

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Sandra Ruth Lipsitz Bem (born June 22, 1944) is a Pennsylvanian psychologist known for her works in androgyny and gender studies, including the Bem Sex Role Inventory. She is currently a professor at Cornell University.

She asserted that masculine and feminine dimensions could be divided into two spheres, rather than one. It is based on a high-low continuum, i.e., a person with high masculine and low feminine identification would be categorized as "masculine." A person with high feminine identification and low masculine identification, would be categorized as "feminine." A person who had high identification with both characteristics would be categorized as "androgynous." A person who has low identification with both dimensions would be considered "undifferentiated."

Her works include:

• Bem, Sandra L. (1974). The measurement of psychological androgyny. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 42, 155-62.

• Bem, Sandra L. and C. Watson. (1976). Scoring packet: Bem Sex Role Inventory. Unpublished Manuscript

• Bem, S. L. (1976). Sex typing and androgyny: Further explorations of the expressive domain. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 34, 1016.

• Bem, S. L. (1976). Sex typing and the avoidance of cross-sex behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 33, 48.

• Bem, S. L. (1977). On the utility of alternative procedures for assessing psychological androgyny. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54, 196-205

• Bem, S. L. (1977). The 1977 annual handbook for group facilitators.

• Bem , S. L. (1979). Theory and measurement of androgyny: A Reply to the Pedhazur- Tetenbaum and Locksley- Colten Critiques. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37, 1047.

• Bem, S. L., & Andersen, S. M. (1981). Sex typing and androgyny in dyadic interaction: Individual differences in responsiveness to physical attractiveness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 41, 74.

• Bem, S. L. (1981). Gender schema theory: A cognitive account of sex typing source. Psychological Review, 88, 354.

• Bem, S. L. (1981). The BSRI and gender schema theory: A reply to Spence and Helmreich. Psychological Review, 88, 369-71.

• Bem, S. L. (1982). Gender schema theory and self-schema theory compared: A comment on Markus, Crane, Bernstein, and Siladi's "Self-schemas and gender". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43,1192

• Bem S. L. (1989). Genital knowledge and gender constancy in preschool children. Child Development, 60, 3.

• Bem, S. L. (1993). The lenses of gender: Transforming the debate on sexual inequality. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

• Bem, S. L. (1995). Dismantling gender polarization and compulsory heterosexuality: Should we turn the volume down or up? Journal of Sex Research, 32, 329-334.

• Bem, S. L., Schellenberg, E. G., & Keil, J. M. (1995). "Innocent victims" of AIDS: Identifying the subtext. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 25, 1790-1800.

• Chesler, P., Rothblum, E. D., & Cole, E. ( 1995). Feminist foremothers in women's studies, psychology, and mental health. New York: Haworth Press.

• Frable, D. E. S. and Bem, S. L. (1985). If you are gender schematic, all members of the opposite sex look alike. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49, 459.