The article discusses the critique that personality inventories may be sexist due to gender-based score interpretations. A previous science article highlighted how a female respondent's agreeableness scores varied between male and female responses, suggesting a bias. However, the author clarifies that different scoring norms for personality traits serve to provide objective information. Unlike academic tests, personality assessments have no universally correct answers; thus, gender norming can facilitate more accurate evaluations of personality traits across genders.
Goldhill's concern was that when she completed several Big Five personality inventories, her level of agreeableness was consistently interpreted as higher when she indicated that she was a man.
If we were talking about a high school mathematics test, using different grading keys for girls and boys would certainly be seen as sexist and unfair.
But personality tests are not like math tests. Math problems assess your knowledge of mathematics, and they do so by determining if you know how to get the right answers.
The current post explains why gender norming is not sexism, but, rather helpful, objective, information.
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