Brief Description

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

Purpose

The aim of the SRES is to assess perceptions and attitudes toward gender equality, in order to identify levels of acceptance or resistance to roles that are not dictated by traditional gender stereotypes. It is used in social and educational research, as well as in evaluations of awareness and intervention programs promoting 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 reverse scoring before calculating the total score. Higher scores represent greater acceptance of gender role equality.

Validity

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

Reliability

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

Data Analysis and Use

Analysis involves calculating the total score and, if needed, subscale scores for each thematic domain. Data can be used to monitor changes in attitudes following educational or social interventions, to compare different demographic groups, and in research studies examining the influence of factors such as culture, age, and education on gender equality perceptions.

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.