Sociotropy, autonomy, and masculinity/femininity: implications for vulnerability to depression.

To explore the magnitude of overlap between sociotropy and autonomy with sex-role orientation, relations of Beck's Sociotropy-Autonomy Scale with 6 measures of sex-role orientation were examined using a convenience sample of 153 undergraduate students. The sample included 95 women and 58 men whose mean age was 20.4 yr. A principal axis factor analysis yielded two dear factors, one masculine and one feminine. Sociotropy related strongly to the feminine factor, and Autonomy related strongly to the masculine factor. The mean score for women was significantly higher than that for men on Sociotropy, but the mean difference on Autonomy was not statistically significant. These findings suggest there may be some definitional overlap between vulnerability to depression and sex-role orientation.