Unmitigated Agency and Unmitigated Communion: An Analysis of the Negative Components of Masculinity and Femininity I

The negative components o f masculinity and femininity, conceptualized by Spence and her colleagues (1979) as unmitigated agency and unmitigated communion, were explored by examining dominant and submissive acts used in their expression. In three separate sessions, subjects (N = 129) completed scales designed to measure these constructs, a Dominance Act Report, and a Submissiveness Act Report. Dominant acts used in the expression o f unmitigated agency involved the formation o f separations (e.g., making decisions without consulting the others involved in them), narcissistic self-assertion (e.g., telling others to perform one's menial tasks), and self-protection (e.g., bluffing one's way out o f an embarrassing situation). Submissive acts used in the expression o f unmitigated communion involved failing to make normatively appropriate agentic responses (e.g., walking out o f a store knowing that one had been short-changed) and subjugating personal desires to group wishes (e.g., giving up vacation plans in deference to the preferences o f others). Discussion focuses on elaborating the concepts o f unmitigated agency and unmitigated communion.