Explain 2 evaluation points of the BSRI (Bem Sex Role Inventory) (6 marks)

The BRSI appears to be a valid and reliable measuring scale for androgyny as there is support from a pilot study of 1000 students using the BRSI, and their results reflected their own descriptions of their gender identities, thus showing that it is a true measurement for androgyny. A smaller sample from this pilot study were involved in a follow up study where they were measured again using the BRSI, and showed each student finding similar results to the initial test. This demonstrates test-retest reliability, and due to the correlation between their results, we can conclude that the results are significant to show that the BSRI is a reliable measurement for androgyny.However, Bem also stated that androgyny would lead to a greater level of psychological well being, because androgynous people have a wider range of positive emotional responses to chose from when reacting to situations. The first issue with this is that it doesn't consider that they may also have a wider range of negative responses to chose from. Then Adams and Sherer (1985) also challenged it saying that actually having more masculine traits leads to greater well being in Western societies, so the BSRI is limited by its cultural context and suggests its generalisability is reduced by its ethnocentrism, so wouldn't be as applicable in other cultures.