Gender Schema Theory - Legacy

Legacy

The legacy of gender schema theory has not been one of great obvious lasting impact on the psychology of gender. Bem's theory was undoubtedly informed by the cognitive revolution of the 1970s and 1980s and was coming at a time when the psychology of gender was drastically picking up interest as more and more women were entering academic fields. While gender schema theory does provide a cognitive backbone for how gender stereotypes may continue to be maintained in current society, it lost wind as more broad sociological theories became the dominant force in the psychology of gender. A major limitation of gender schema theory has been that once research supported the nature of the process, there was little work that followed.

The longest-lasting contribution to the field has been the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI). Originally developed as a tool to identify sex-typed individuals, many researchers use the measure to look at other components of gender, including endorsement of gender stereotypes and as a measure of masculinity/femininity. Caution should be employed when examining research that uses the BSRI for measuring constructs that it was not created to measure.

Interestingly, Bem herself admitted that she was ill-prepared to develop the BSRI and never anticipated it being as widely used as it still is even today.