Journal ot Consulting and Clinical Psychology 1975, Vol. 43, NO. 2, 273

Sex-Role Stereotypes for Internal-External Control and Interpersonal Trust Dorothy J. Hochrelch University of Connecticut The internal-external Locus of Control (I-E) Scale and the Interpersonal Trust Scale are both widely used personality measures. The I-E scale is designed to measure the generalized expectancy, operating across a variety of situations, that one's outcomes are determined primarily by one's own behaviors and characteristics (internal control) or by luck, fate, or the influence of powerful others (external control). The Interpersonal Trust Scale was designed to measure the generalized expectancy that the oral or written promises of others regarding future behavior can be relied upon. The purpose of this study is to discover whether or not sex-role stereotypes exist with regard to the locus of control and trust variables. In light of differing cultural norms and expectations for the sexes, it was hypothesized that stereotypes of the extremely masculine male would be (a) significantly more internal and (b) significantly lower in trust than stereotypes of the extremely feminine female. Second, should such stereotypes exist, their effect upon subjects' own I-E and trust scores would be examined. A total of 100 male and 100 female college students, most of whom had been administered the Rotter I-E and trust scales in class months prior to the experiment, were randomly assigned to testing groups. Half of the subjects were given the I-E scale, and half were administered the trust scale. Within each questionnaire group, half of the subjects of each sex received "supermale" instructions (i.e., they were told to respond as if they were a "fictitious person who is extremely masculine"), and half received "superfemale" instructions (i.e., they were told to answer as if they were "a fictitious person who is extremely feminine"). Reprints and an extended report of this study may be obtained without charge from Dorothy J. Hochreich, Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06268.

As predicted, the supermale was seen as more internal than the superfemale within both male (t = S.68, p < .005) and female (t = 11.81, p < .005) subject groups, whose stereotypes of supermale and superfemale in terms of locus of control are not different from each other. Also, as predicted, the supermale was seen as lower in trust than the superfemale within both male and female subject groups (t = 2.32, p

Sex-role stereotypes for internal-external control and interpersonal trust.

Journal ot Consulting and Clinical Psychology 1975, Vol. 43, NO. 2, 273 Sex-Role Stereotypes for Internal-External Control and Interpersonal Trust Do...
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