Masters Theses

Date of Award

8-1981

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major Professor

William A. Poppen

Committee Members

E. W. McClain, J. R. Ray

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine adolescents' intrinsic and extrinsic religious orientation across sex role classification and adolescents' masculinity and feminity across religious orientation. Subjects were 210 (109 males, 101 females) adolescents enrolled as seniors in two high schools in McMinn County, Tennessee. When subjects were categorized according to Bern's (1978) four sex role classifications, 58 were classified as androgynous, 53 as undifferentiated, 52 as masculine, and 47 as feminine. When subjects were categorized according to Allport's (1968) four religious orientations, 67 were extrinsically religious, 56 were intrinsically religious, 48 were indiscriminately proreligious, and 39 were nonreligious.

Data were analyzed separately for each null hypothesis using a Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance. For comparisons which yielded significant H values, a Mann-Whitney U test was used as a follow-up to determine where significant differences existed. The .05 level of significance was used to test each null hypothesis.

Of the twelve null hypotheses tested, five were rejected. A significant difference was found among the intrinsic scores of androgynous, undifferentiated, masculine, and feminine adolescents for total, male, and female samples. The direction of the scores for significant individual comparisons suggested that androgynous adolescents were more intrinsically religious than undifferentiated adolescents for total, male, and female samples; androgynous adolescents were more intrinsically religious than masculine adolescents for total and male samples; masculine adolescents were more intrinsically religious than undifferentiated adolescents for the female sample; feminine adolescents were more intrinsically religious than undifferentiated adolescents for total and male samples; and feminine adolescents were more intrinsically religious than masculine adolescents for the total sample.

A significant difference was also found among the feminine scores of intrinsically religious, extrinsically religious, indiscriminately proreligious, and nonreligious adolescents for total and male samples. The direction of the scores for significant individual comparisons suggested that intrinsically religious adolescents were more feminine than extrinsically religious adolescents for the total sample, intrinsically religious adolescents were more feminine than nonreligious adolescents for the male sample; indiscriminately proreligious adolescents were more feminine than extrinsically religious adolescents for total and male samples; and indiscriminately proreligious adolescents were more feminine than nonreligious adolescents for the male sample. No significant difference was found between the feminine scores of intrinsically religious, extrinsically religious, indiscriminately proreligious, and nonreligious females.

Results of Kruskal-Wallis one-way analyses of variance indicated there were no significant differences between the extrinsic scores of adolescents across sex role classifications nor between the masculine scores of adolescents across religious orientations.

Findings of the study are consistent with maturational theories which suggest intrinsically religious and androgynous persons are psychologically healthier and more mature than undifferentiated persons. In addition, similarities among androgynous, feminine and intrinsically religious subjects lead to the conclusion that an individual's femininity may be a key concept in intrinsic religious orientation. Further research investigating personality characteristics and values of feminine, androgynous, and intrinsically religious persons is recommended.

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