Gender Differences of Latvian Males and Females at the Stage of Adulthood

"Objective � In this research, gender differences of Latvian males and females in the stage of adulthood are determined and distinguished on the grounds of a theoretical analysis of socio-psychological, scientific and methodological literature and legislative documents as well as empirical findings. Methodology/Technique � A survey by Bem (1974) has been adapted in this study for measuring how an adult individual sees him-/herself from the gender perspective. This was done with an aim of determining the place of gender in the cultural context rather than in the personality of a separate individual. 109 women and men from different regions of Latvia aged 20 to 64 took part in the study. The data were processed with the 23.0 version of SPSS, the data processing program. Findings � The obtained results indicate that the gender patterns on male and female behavior are similar. No differences in male or female behaviour were established. The behavioral peculiarities of male and female gender are determined not by age, but by sex. It can also be concluded that research of Latvian male and female gender behavior led to Bem�s androgyny theory, which argues for the ability of men and women to execute both � male and female behavioral patterns in ontogenesis. Novelty � The understanding of gender as a discursive construction caused a confusion between these notions. This study contributes in literature of gender psychology with its original data. "