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Ronald F. Levant, Office of the Dean, The University of Akron; Stephen Graef, Department of Psy-
chology, The University of Akron; K Bryant Smalley, Center for Psychological Studies, Nova Southeastern
University; Christine M. Willliams, Department of Psychology, The University of Akron; and Neil McMil-
lan, Department of Social Work, Kibble Education & Care Centre.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Ronald F. Levant, Buchtel College of
Arts and Sciences, The University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325-1901. Email: levant@uakron.edu
THYMOS: Journal of Boyhood Studies, Vol. 2, No. 1, Spring 2008, 46-59.
© 2008 by the Men’s Studies Press, LLC. All rights reserved. http://www.mensstudies.com
thy.0201.46/$12.00 DOI: 10.3149/thy.0201.46
Evaluation of the Psychometric Properties of the
Male Role Norms Inventory-Adolescent
(MRNI-A)
RONALD F. LEVANT STEPHEN T. GRAEF
The University of Akron
K. BRYANT SMALLEY CHRISTINE WILLIAMS
Nova Southeastern University The University of Akron
NEIL MCMILLAN
Kibble Education and Care Center
Data were collected on samples of American (N = 172) and Scottish (N = 264)
adolescents to evaluate the scale reliability and construct validity of an ado-
lescent version of Levant et al.’s (1992) Male Role Norms Inventory. Results
indicate that the MRNI-A showed good overall internal consistency for the
scale as a whole in both samples; results for the subscales were less robust.
Convergent and discriminant validity were assessed with the U.S. sample. Re-
sults indicated adequate convergent validity for the MRNI-A for both boys
and girls, and adequate discriminant validity for girls. Results for the dis-
criminant validity of the MRNI-A for boys were not as conclusive. Consistent
with research on adults, females in both samples endorsed less traditional
views of masculinity than did males. Scottish adolescents endorsed less tra-
ditional views of masculinity than did Americans.
Keywords: masculinity ideology, male role norms, adolescents, scale valida-
tion, cross sex and cross cultural comparisons
Within the study of sex and gender, the acquisition of and adherence to masculine
and feminine gender roles has been a topic of vigorous debate. Historically, the