I hereby declare that this research report Is my own work. It is
being submitted for the degree of Master of Arts (Clinical
Psychology) at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
It has not been submitted before for any degree or examination at
any other university.This study is a constructive application of Feather's (1985) investigation of the
relationship between masculinity, femininity, self-esteem and subclinical
depression. As such, it aimed at testing the generaliseability of Feather's finding
that self-esteem is "a crucial variable to consider when accounting for the negative
linkage between masculinity and depressive symptoms" (Feather 1985 p 498).
Data was collected by means of questionnaires administered to English-speakirlg,
unmarried, "white", female students (age range 19 - 23) registered at the
University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg, South Africa). The subjects were
all studying English at the second or third year level and at least one of each
subject's parents was employed in a professional or managerial capacity. The
questionnaire consisted of a form obtaining biographical information, the Beck
Depression Inventory, the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory and the Bem Sex
Role Inventory (the latter rneasuring masculinity and femininity). Complete data
was obtained for 103 students. Questionnaires were completed in the subject's
own time. Results obtained from the calculated statistics (descriptive, correlation,
partial correlation and analysis of variance) led to the conclusion that Feather's
principal findings can be ganeralised, at least to the student population
investigated here. Hence, given the potential implications of Feather's research
for intervention in and prevention of depression, additional effort is Justified to
investigate the assumed causal relationship underlying his work and to focus
upon clinically depressed individuals. Perhaps the chief conclusion arising from
this study, however, is that the nature of the relationship between sex-role
orientation and psychological well-belnq needs to be more fully explicated to
account adequately for the complexity of psychological life. More specifically, for
example, there is a need to define the roles of various mediating variables other
than self-esteem in the relationship between sex-role orlentatlon and
psychological well-being. It is suggested that a combination of a qualitative with a
quantitative approach may be necessary to adequately account for the complexity
of the area .Andrew Chakane 201
