Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The Relationship between Adult Occupational Preferences and Childhood Gender Nonconformity among Samoan Women, Men, and Fa’afafine

  • Published:
Human Nature Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Previous research has found that sex differences in occupational preferences are both substantial and cross-culturally universal. Androphilic males tend to display “gender-shifted” occupational preferences, with relatively female-typical interests. Past research has overwhelmingly relied on Western samples; this article offers new insights from a non-Western setting. Known locally as fa’afafine, androphilic males in Samoa occupy a third-gender category. Data were collected in Samoa from 103 men, 103 women, and 103 fa’afafine regarding occupational preferences and recalled childhood gender nonconformity (CGN). A substantial sex difference was observed in the occupational preferences of men and women (d = 2.04). Interestingly, women and fa’afafine did not differ in their preferences (p = 0.89), indicating a complete gender inversion of occupational preferences in the latter. Although there was no correlation between women’s CGN and masculine occupational preferences, there was a significant correlation (r = −0.62) between these variables in both men and fa’afafine. Among males (both men and fa’afafine), increased CGN was associated with preference for feminine occupations. The present research corroborates past findings and furnishes support for the conclusion that female-typical occupational preferences are a cross-culturally invariant aspect of male androphilia.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Social role theory should more properly be termed a scientific hypothesis, but we have opted to keep the original terminology used in the published literature.

  2. Androphilia refers to sexual attraction to adult males, whereas gynephilia refers to sexual attraction to adult females. Because the manner in which male androphilia manifests publically can vary across cultures, when undertaking cross-cultural comparisons these terms are preferable to culturally-specific identity categories such as “gay” or “homosexual.”

  3. Note that the same pattern of differences was observed when male- and female-typical occupations were viewed separately. Men differed from both women and fa’afafine, with fa’afafine and women showing nonsignificant differences in their preference for male- or female-typical occupations.

  4. There was also no significant connection when the individual portions of the composite variables (i.e., male- and female-typical childhood behavior and occupational preferences) were considered independently.

  5. Embellishment refers not so much to creating tangible objects as to making aesthetically pleasing those objects that already exist. As an example, Whitam and Mathy (1986) note that androphilic males are not particularly interested in construction, plumbing, and heating but in the design of a house itself, both inside and outside.

References

  • Alm, S., & Bäckman, O. (2015). Openness to gender atypical occupations in youth: do peer groups and school classes matter? Journal of Early Adolescence, 35, 97–119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bailey, J. M. (2003). The man who would be queen: The science of gender-bending and transsexualism. Washington, DC: Joseph Henry Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bailey, J. M., & Obershneider, M. (1997). Sexual orientation and professional dance. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 26, 433–444.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bailey, J. M., & Zucker, K. J. (1995). Childhood sex-typed behavior and sexual orientation: a conceptual analysis and quantitative review. Developmental Psychology, 31, 43–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bartlett, N. H., & Vasey, P. L. (2006). A retrospective study of childhood gender-atypical behavior in Samoan fa’afafine. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 35, 659–666.

  • Bergling, T. (2001). Sissyphobia: Gay men and effeminate behavior. Binghamton: Harrington Park Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boa, A., & Swaab, D. F. (2011). Sexual differentiation of the human brain: relation to gender identity, sexual orientation and neuropsychiatric disorders. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology, 32, 214–226.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buss, D. M. (1995). Psychological sex differences: origins through sexual selection. American Psycholigist, 50, 164–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cardoso, F. L. (2005). Cultural universals and differences in male homosexuality: the case of a Brazilian fishing village. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 34, 103–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cardoso, F. L. (2009). Recalled sex-typed behavior in childhood and sports preferences in adulthood of heterosexual, bisexual, and homosexual men from Brazil, Turkey, and Thailand. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 38, 726–736.

  • Croft, A., Schmader, T., Block, K., & Baron, A. S. (2014). The second shift reflected in the second generation: do parents’ gender roles at home predict children’s aspirations? Psychological Science, 25, 1418–1428.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Del Guidice, M., Booth, T., & Irwing, P. (2012). The distance between Mars and Venus: measuring global sex differences in personality. PloS One, 7(1), e29265. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0029265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DiDonato, L., & Strough, J. (2013). Do college students’ gender-typed attitudes about occupations predict their real-world decisions? Sex Roles, 68, 536–549.

  • Eagly, A. (1987). Sex differences in social behavior: A social role interpretation. Hillsdale: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, L. (2011). Identifying and explaining apparent sex differences in cognition and behavior. Personality and Individual Differences, 51, 552–561.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, L., & Ames, M. A. (1987). Neurohormonal functioning and sexual orientation: a theory of homosexuality-heterosexuality. Psychological Bulletin, 101, 233–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, L., Ratnasingam, M., & Wheeler, M. (2012). Gender, sexual orientation, and occupational interests: evidence of their interrelatedness. Personality and Individual Differences, 53, 64–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans, C. D., & Diekman, A. B. (2009). On motivated role selection: gender beliefs, distant goals, and career interests. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 33, 235–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fagot, B. I., Leinbach, M. D., & O’Boyle, C. (1992). Gender labeling, gender stereotyping, and parenting behaviors. Developmental Psychology, 28, 440–443.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galdikas, B. M. F., & Teleki, G. (1981). Variations in subsistence activities of female and male pongids: new perspectives on the origins of hominid labor division. Current Anthropology, 22, 241–256.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gati, I., & Perez, M. (2013). Gender differences in career preferences from 1990 to 2010: gaps reduced but not eliminated. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 61, 63–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green, R. (1985). Gender identity in childhood and later sexual orientation: follow-up of 78 males. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 142, 339–341.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green, R. (1987). The sissy boy syndrome: The development of homosexuality. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guimond, S. (2008). Psychological similarities and differences between women and men across cultures. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2, 494–510.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hart, D. V. (1968). Homosexuality and transvestism in the Philippines: the Cebuan Filipino bayot and lakin-on. Behavior Science Notes, 3, 211–248.

  • Hyde, J. S. (2005). The gender similarities hypothesis. American Psychologist, 60, 581–592.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hyde, J. S. (2014). Gender similarities and differences. Annual Review of Psychology, 65, 373–398.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Janes, C. R. (1990). Migration, changing gender roles and stress: the Samoan case. Medical Anthropology, 12, 217–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, L. L., Bradley, S. J., Birkenfeld-Adams, A. S., Radzins Kuksis, M. A., Maing, D. M., Mitchell, J. N., & Zucker, K. J. (2004). A parent-report gender identity questionnaire for children. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 33, 105–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kinsey, A. C., Pomeroy, W. B., & Martin, C. E. (1948). Sexual behavior in the human male. Philadelphia: Saunders.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lancaster, J. B., & Lancaster, C. S. (1980). The division of labor and the evolution of human sexuality. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 3, 193.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lassonde, K. A., & O’Brien, E. J. (2013). Occupational stereotypes: activation of male bias in a gender-neutral world. Journal of Applied Psychology, 43, 387–396.

    Google Scholar 

  • LeVay, S. (2011). Gay, straight, and the reason why: The science of sexual orientation. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lippa, R. A. (1991). Some psychometric characteristics of gender diagnosticity measures: reliability, validity, consistency across domains, and relationship to the Big Five. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61, 1000–1011.

  • Lippa, R. A. (1998). Gender-related individual differences and the structure of vocational interests: the importance of the people-things dimension. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 996–1009.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lippa, R. A. (2000). Gender-related traits in gay men, lesbian women, and heterosexual men and women: the virtual identity of homosexual-heterosexual diagnosticity and gender diagnosticity. Journal of Personality, 68, 899–926.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lippa, R. A. (2002). Gender-related traits of heterosexual and homosexual men and women. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 31, 83–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lippa, R. A. (2005a). Subdomains of gender-related occupational interests: do they form a cohesive bipolar M-F dimension? Journal of Personality, 73, 693–729.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lippa, R. A. (2005b). Sexual orientation and personality. Annual Review of Sex Research, 16, 119–153.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lippa, R. A. (2008). The relation between childhood gender nonconformity and adult masculinity-femininity and anxiety in heterosexual and homosexual men and women. Sex Roles, 59, 684–693.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lippa, R. A. (2010). Sex differences in personality traits and gender-related occupational preferences across 53 nations: testing evolutionary and social-environment theories. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 39, 619–636.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lippa, R. A., & Connelly, S. (1990). Gender diagnosticity: a new Bayesian approach to gender-related individual differences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 1051–1065.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lippa, R. A., & Tan, F. D. (2001). Does culture moderate the relationship between sexual orientation and gender-related personality traits? Cross-Cultural Research, 35, 65–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lippa, R. A., Preston, K., & Penner, J. (2014). Women’s representation among 60 occupations from 1972 to 2010: more women in high-status jobs, few women in things-oriented jobs. PloS One, 9(5), e95960. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0095960.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ngun, T. C., Ghahramani, N., Sánchez, F. J., Bocklandt, S., & Vilain, E. (2011). The genetics of sex differences in brain and behavior. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology, 32, 227–246.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nhundy, T. J. (2007). Mitigating gender-typed occupational preferences of Zimbabwean primary school children: the use of biographical sketches and portrayals of female role models. Sex Roles, 56, 639–649.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Okami, P., & Shackelford, T. K. (2001). Human sex differences in sexual psychology and behavior. Annual Review of Sex Research, 12, 186–241.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petterson, L. J., Dixson, B. J., Little, A. C., & Vasey, P. L. (2015). Viewing time measures of sexual orientation in Samoan cisgender men who engage in sexual interactions with fa’afafine. PloS One, 10, e0116529. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0116529.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rieger, G., & Savin-Williams, R. C. (2012). Gender nonconformity, sexual orientation, and psychological well-being. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41, 611–621.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rieger, G., Linsenmeier, A. W., Gygax, L., & Bailey, J. M. (2008). Sexual orientation and childhood gender nonconformity: evidence from home videos. Developmental Psychology, 44, 46–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmitt, D. P. (2015). The evolution of culturally-variable sex differences: Men and women are not always different, but when they are it appears not to result from patriarchy or sex role socialization. In T. K. Shackelford & R. D. Hansen (Eds.), The evolution of sexuality (pp. 221–256). Switzerland: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Su, R., Rounds, J., & Armstrong, P. I. (2009). Men and things, women and people: A meta-analysis of sex differences in interests. Psychological Bulletin, 135, 859–884.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teig, S., & Susskind, J. E. (2008). Truck driver or nurse? The impact of gender roles and occupational status on children’s occupational preferences. Sex Roles, 58, 848–863.

  • Trivers, R. L. (1972). Parental investment and sexual selection. In B. Campbell (Ed.), Sexual selection and the descent of man 1871–1971 (pp. 136–179). Chicago: Aldine.

    Google Scholar 

  • VanderLaan, D. P., Ren, Z., & Vasey, P. L. (2013). Male androphilia in the ancestral environment: an ethnological analysis. Human Nature, 24, 375–401.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vasey, P. L., & Bartlett, N. H. (2007). What can the Samoan “Fa’afafine” teach us about the Western concept of gender identity disorder in childhood? Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 50, 481–490.

  • Vasey, P. L., & VanderLaan, D. P. (2014). Evolving research on the evolution of male androphilia. Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 23, 137–147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitam, F. L. (1983). Culturally invariable properties of male homo-sexuality: Tentative conclusions from cross-cultural research. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 12, 207–226.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitam, F. L., & Mathy, R. M. (1986). Male homosexuality in four societies: Brazil, Guatemala, the Philippines, and the United States. New York: Prager.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiesgram, E. S., Bigler, R. S., & Liben, L. S. (2010). Gender, values, and occupational interests among children, adolescents, and adults. Child Development, 81, 778–796.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilbourn, M. P., & Kee, D. W. (2010). Henry the nurse is a doctor too: implicitly examining children’s gender stereotypes for male and female occupational roles. Sex Roles, 62, 670–683.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood, W., & Eagly, A. H. (2002). A cross-cultural analysis of the behavior of women and men: Implications for the origins of sex differences. Psychological Bulletin, 128, 699–727.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zheng, L., Lippa, R. A., & Zheng, Y. (2011). Sex and sexual orientation differences in personality in China. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40, 533–541.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zucker, K. J., Mitchell, J. N., Bradley, S. J., Tkachuk, J., Cantor, J. M., & Allin, S. M. (2006). The recalled childhood gender identity/gender role questionnaire: psychometric properties. Sex Roles, 54, 469–483.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Preparation of this manuscript was supported by the University of Lethbridge, by a SSHRC CGS Master’s Award to the first author, and a SSHRC Insight Grant to the second author.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Lethbridge, C866 University Hall, 4401 University Drive, Lethbridge, AB, T1K 3M4, Canada

    Scott W. Semenyna & Paul L. Vasey

Authors
  1. Scott W. Semenyna
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Paul L. Vasey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Scott W. Semenyna.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Semenyna, S.W., Vasey, P.L. The Relationship between Adult Occupational Preferences and Childhood Gender Nonconformity among Samoan Women, Men, and Fa’afafine . Hum Nat 27, 283–295 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-016-9258-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-016-9258-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation