Brief Description

The Sex-Role Egalitarianism Scale (SRES) is a psychometric instrument designed to measure the degree to which an individual supports equal roles for men and women across various aspects of social, professional, and family life. It includes statements covering areas such as career development, education, family life, politics, and social relationships.

Purpose

The purpose of the SRES is to assess perceptions and attitudes toward gender equality in order to highlight levels of acceptance or resistance to roles that deviate from traditional gender stereotypes. It is used in social and educational research, as well as in the evaluation of awareness and intervention programs promoting gender equality.

Scoring Method

Participants respond to each statement using a five- or seven-point Likert scale (e.g., 1 = strongly disagree to 5/7 = strongly agree). Some items are reverse-worded and require score reversal before calculating the total score. Higher scores represent greater acceptance of gender-role equality.

Validity

The SRES demonstrates strong content validity, as its items were derived from an extensive literature review and expert analysis in the field of gender studies. Construct validity has been confirmed through factor analyses that support the structure of the individual subscales (e.g., occupational roles, family roles, educational roles).

Reliability

The scale shows high internal consistency, with Cronbach’s α values typically ranging from 0.85 to 0.95 depending on the sample and version of the scale. Test–retest reliability is also satisfactory, with correlation coefficients above 0.80 over time intervals of a few weeks.

Data Analysis and Use

Data analysis involves calculating a total score and, if needed, subscale scores for each thematic dimension. The results can be used to monitor changes in attitudes following educational or social interventions, compare different demographic groups, and support research exploring the effects of factors such as culture, age, and education on perceptions of gender equality.

References

Beere, C. A., King, D. W., Beere, D. B., & King, L. A. (1984). The Sex-Role Egalitarianism Scale: Development, reliability, and validity. Psychological Reports, 55(3), 911–919.
King, L. A., & King, D. W. (1997). Sex-Role Egalitarianism Scale: Development, psychometric properties, and applications. In C. A. Beere (Ed.), Gender roles: A handbook of tests and measures (pp. 378–384). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Beere, C. A. (1990). Gender roles: A handbook of tests and measures. New York: Greenwood Press.