A Developmental Comparison of the Expression of Sex Symbolism from Early Adolescence to Adulthood

Abstract

The symbolic meaning test as described in the preceding chapter was immediately followed by a masculine or feminine symbolic meaning test, carried out with the same early adolescent high school group, the same adult summer school group and, as mentioned in the Introduction, by a group of college students. The same fifty nouns used in the symbolic meaning test were used as stimulus words, and the written instructions, immediately following the symbolic meaning test in the test booklet described before, were worded as follows:

On the next two pages you will find the same number of objects, plants, and animals mentioned. Please fill in beside each word whether the object, plant, or animal has a masculine or feminine symbolic meaning for you. Mark an M, if masculine; mark an F if feminine. If you cannot feel or decide whether some of them have either a masculine or a feminine symbolic meaning, then please put a question mark (?) beside the word. Don’t think about it, just write down beside each word whether it has a feminine or masculine meaning. If you are in doubt, fill in with a question mark (?).