Results of research to identify words which are perceived to characterize male and female traits are reported. Ninety-six undergraduate students, 48 male and 48 female, rated 210 adjectives on a five-point scale ranging from "very good example" to "very poor example." Researchers then categorized results according to core (best category representatives), and non-member words. Eleven adjectives were found to represent core traits for the category "men:" achievement oriented, active, adventurous, aggressive, ambitious, assertive, competitive, determined, independent, physically strong, and strong. Seventeen adjectives formed the core for the category "women" including affectionate, attractive, complicated, curious, emotional, gentle, motherly, sentimental, soft-hearted, sympathetic, and talkative. Results also indicate that core members of the category "men" tend to be peripheral rather than non-members of the category "women," and vice versa. This latter finding questions classically held assumptions that sex stereotype categories are polarized with men at one pole of a trait and women at the other. (Author/KC)