Format:
Online-Ressource (xi, 600 p.)
,
ill
,
23 cm
Edition:
1st ed (Online-Ausg.)
ISBN:
9781447495789
Series Statement:
McGraw-Hill publications in psychology
Content:
"Sex differences in personality and temperament are matters of universal human interest. They are rapidly coming to be recognized as one of the central problems in anthropology, sociology, and psychology. It is well that they should be so recognized; for sex differences are more than a perennial stimulus to idle speculation, wit, and literary art. Mass theories in regard to them are one of the most potent of all the forces that operate in the shaping of human societies. Unfortunately, investigations of masculinity and femininity have been retarded by lack of definiteness with respect to what these terms should connote. Gross departures from even a vaguely denned norm have of course long been recognized, but in the absence of quantitative methods the less extreme deviations are overlooked or misunderstood. The purpose of the investigations here reported has been the accomplishment in the field of masculinity-femininity of something similar to Binet's early achievement in the field of intelligence--a quantification of procedures and of concepts. No one can better realize than the authors how imperfectly they have succeeded in their pioneer attempt. The problem of temperament is no less complex than the problem of abilities. The concepts of masculinity and femininity are even more vague than the nineteenth century concepts of intelligence. Clarity and exactness are seldom attained by a single effort. Indeed, the investigations to be reported have been shaped by the conviction that only the simplest and roughest kind of quantification is at present possible, and that any attempt at exact measurement of the traits in question would, in the present state of psychometric development, be fatuous and unprofitable. The experiment will have justified itself if in some degree it opens the way to more precise measurements and methods"--Preface. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)
Note:
Includes index. - "This volume of studies was made possible by a series of grants from the Committee for Research on Problems of Sex of the National Research Council. - Electronic reproduction; Washington, D.C; American Psychological Association; 2011; Available via World Wide Web; Access limited by licensing agreement; s2011 dcunns
Language:
English
Author information:
Terman, Lewis M. 1877-1956
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