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Postulating a negative bias towards social ambiguity, we conducted cross‐cultural online research to assess whether categorical discrepancies in the perception of androgynous faces were associated with the uncanny feeling and inferences of different morality. Across four studies, we found that androgynous faces were harder to classify into a binary sex category than sex‐typical faces, but this difficulty did not influence social judgements of androgynous targets in a negative fashion. In Study 1 (Spanish‐speaking sample, N = 76), we found that androgynous faces were rated as more trustworthy, less creepy, and less morally different than sex‐typical faces. Study 2 replicated most of the findings from Study 1 in an Italian sample (N = 45). Positive bias towards androgyny was not replicated with a different set of stimuli featuring faces of diverse ethnic backgrounds (Study 3, Spanish‐speaking sample, N = 140). However, results revealed a main effect of ethnicity in participants' responses. When controlling for the effect of morphing procedures in stimuli selection, an overall positive bias towards androgynous targets arose, especially when compared to masculine targets (Study 4, Spanish‐speaking sample, N = 85). These findings suggest that, at least in certain conditions, a positive social bias towards androgynous faces may emerge that does not depend on categorical uncertainty and facial attractiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Female high and low self-monitors were interviewed by a female experimenter who adopted either an androgynous or a feminine guise. An analysis of responses scored for femininity yielded a significant interaction between self-monitoring and interviewer guise which, when subjected to further analysis, revealed a significant simple effect for high self-monitors but not for low self-monitors. High self-monitors scored significantly higher on femininity when with the feminine guise interviewer, but lower when with the androgynous guise interviewer. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study explores the question of why do people prefer to use a particular title in reference to themselves and others rather than an alternative title also available for use. The study investigates the effects of three variables on male and female preference for using the Ms title: attitude toward the Women's Liberation Movement, general conservatism and psychological androgyny. There are probably a number of reasons for the introduction of the Ms title. It is a convenient form of address when communicating with a woman whose marital status is unknown, enabling one to avoid possible social embarrassment or affront to the addressee.