13. Gender, Gender Roles, and Ethnicity

Question 1

What are the 2 key categories of social roles?

Answer 1

gender & ethnicity

Question 2

What is the difference between gender and sex?

Answer 2

Gender – refers to cognitive and social differences between males and females
Sex – refers to biological and physiological differences

Question 3

What is gender typing?

Answer 3

The process by which children acquire the values, motives, and behaviours considered appropriate for their gender in their particular culture

Question 4

Where do children’s beliefs of what is appropriate for each gender derived from?

Answer 4

Largely derived from gender stereotypes.

Question 5

What are gender roles?

Answer 5

Refer to distinctive behaviours that males and females in a culture actually exhibit and hence are the reflections of a culture’s gender stereotypes

Question 6

What is gender identity?

Answer 6

Refer to a perception of oneself as either masculine or feminine; perception of oneself as having the characteristics and interests appropriate to their gender
Children develop a gender identity early in life
Reflected in children’s choices of toys and play

Question 7

What is sexual orientation?

Answer 7

Describes whether someone is attracted to same- or opposite-gender individuals.

Question 8

In what ways can a child be treated differently based on his/her gender?

Answer 8

Decorate room in gender-typed ways
Anticipate specific behaviours for boys/girls
Distinctive clothes and hairstyles
Selecting toys and activities that they deem gender appropriate for them
Promote friendship with same-gender playmates
React negatively when children behave in ways they consider gender inappropriate

Question 9

What are some general cultural expectations for females?

Answer 9

Passive, loving, sensitive and supportive in family and social relationships
Expression of warmth in personal relationships, display anxiety under pressure, suppression of overt aggression and sexuality

Question 10

What are some general cultural expectations for males?

Answer 10

Independent, assertive, dominant, and competitive in social and sexual relations

Question 11

What factors can influence the strength of gender stereotypes people hold?

Answer 11

Ethnicity – socialisation practices
Parents values – children’s whose mothers are working in skilled careers are more likely to believe that having a profession and acquiring an education are appropriate for women.
Age of children – younger children are more rigid in gender stereotypes. Become more flexible as they grow older.

Question 12

How do preverbal infants express their choices of gender-typed behaviour?

Answer 12

Looking behaviour and habituation techniques.

Question 13

How do boys and girls differ in their preferences for looking at dolls and cars at an early age?

Answer 13

By age 1, girls showed a greater preference for dolls than boys. boys showed much stronger preferences for vehicles such as cars and trucks than girls. Preference increased until age 2.

Question 14

As children grew older to middle childhood, how did their preference for toys change?

Answer 14

Boys - preference for gender-stereotyped toys remain consistent
Girls - girls’ interest in play with gender-stereotyped toys decreased as girls grew older.
Possible reason: greater social risks for boys who transgress gender-stereotypical boundaries (ie. disapproval from parents and peers).

Question 15

What are the possible reasons for gender-typed behavioural patterns?

Answer 15

1) instinctive predispostions to certain objects
2) social influences – children presented with gender-specific information early in life
gender distinctions are a common feature of everyday life.

Question 16

What is the pattern of gender-typing for females across the lifespan?

Answer 16

childhood - interest in both feminine and masculine activities
onset of puberty - movement back to strict gender-typing (increased interest in romantic relationships, pressures from parents & peers)
adulthood - stable gender-typed behaviours. Become more autonomous. but as they age, they return to more feminine behaviours due to less self-sufficiency.

Question 17

What kinds of characteristics do females exhibit during parenthood?

Answer 17

Expressive characteristics – more nurturing, concerned with feelings, empathic, and child orientated

Question 18

What kinds of characteristics do males exhibit during parenthood?

Answer 18

instrumental characteristics - more task and occupation oriented. But men tend to become more expressive and nurturing in old age

Question 19

What do boys tend to be more skilled at than girls?

Answer 19

Mental rotation tasks

• manipulating objects
• constructing 3D forms
• mentally manipulating figures

Question 20

What is the difference in mathematics ability between boys and girls?

Answer 20

Boys tend to be better at geometry (spatial visualisation skills)
Girls do better at computational skills

Question 21

When do boys superiority in mathematics emerge?

Answer 21

Boys superiority in mathematics only surfaces in high school years, probably because of lower expectations of teachers and parents for girls’ mathematics skills.

Question 22

What is the difference in reading and writing ability between girls and boys?

Answer 22

Girls tend to speak and write earlier and be better at grammar and spelling than boys
Boys more likely to suffer from social and communicative difficulties

Question 23

What is a type of male hormone?

Answer 23

testosterone

Question 24

What is a type of female hormone?

Answer 24

oestrogen, progesterone

Question 25

Are sex hormones present in the same concentration in males and females?

Answer 25

Hormones associated with sexual characteristics and reproductive functions are present in differing concentrations in males and females throughout the lifespan

Question 26

At which period do we see a surge in hormones in males and females?

Answer 26

puberty

Question 27

The right hemisphere is more involved in processing _____ information. The left hemisphere is more involved in processing _____ information.

Answer 27

spatial; verbal

Question 28

Which gender has more lateralised brains?

Answer 28

Males have functionally more specialized brains.
Men whose left hemispheres are damaged are more likely to experience verbal deficits than women with left hemisphere damage
Men whose right hemispheres are damaged show more spatial deficits than women with right hemisphere damage

Question 29

What is one evidence that supports the role of biological programming in gender-typing?

Answer 29

By age 4-5, girls interact more with babies and when to care for a baby, are more likely to engage actively, whereas boys are inclined to watch the baby passively. supports arguments that suggest women are more committed to parental activities than men.

Question 30

What is an evolutionary argument to suggest males’ superior visual-spatial skills?

Answer 30

males’ major activity was hunting, so visual-spatial skills were more essential for their success.

Question 31

What are 3 evidences that supports the cultural view of gender-typing? (ie. social reasons for gender-related behaviours)

Answer 31

1) gender-related behaviours are more apparent when people know they are being observed by others
2) no differences in mother and father’s autonomic nervous system responses to their infant’s crying
3) Boys are often encouraged than girls to play with toys that involve spatial abilities. This experience increases visual-spatial abilities.

Question 32

What do cognitive theorists argue about gender typing?

Answer 32

Argue that children’s own understanding of gender roles and rules contributes to the process of gender-role acquisition.

Question 33

What are 2 dominant cognitive approaches of gender-typing?

Answer 33

1) Kohlberg’s Cognitive Developmental Approach

2) Gender-Schema Theory (GST) - information processing theory

Question 34

What does Kohlberg’s cognitive developmental approach proposes?

Answer 34

Proposed that children differentiate gender roles early and perceive of themselves as more like same-gender than opposite-gender models. They find it rewarding to behave in a gender-appropriate manner and to imitate same-gender models. Consistency between perception and behaviour is critical in sustaining self-esteem.

Question 35

According to Kohlberg’s cognitive developmental approach, what are the 3 stages in gaining an understanding of gender?

Answer 35

1) Gender identity (2-3) - recognising that they are either male or female
2) Gender stability (4-5) - accepting that males remain males and females remain female over time. Do not have gender constancy yet.
3) Gender constancy (6-7) - Can recognise that superficial changes in appearance or activities don’t alter gender.

Question 36

How does SES affect children’s understanding of gender?

Answer 36

Children from working class and LDCs tend to reach these milestones about a year later than middle class children

Question 37

Gender-schema theory explores the interplay between _____, _____ & _____ processes in understanding gender.

Answer 37

social, biological, cognitive

Question 38

What does the gender-schema theory (GST) propose?

Answer 38

proposes that children develop schemas (ie. naive theories) about gender that help them organise and understand their social information and experiences relating to gender differences and gender roles.

Question 39

Describe a case-study in support of the gender-schema theory?

Answer 39

Children were shown pictures of people engaging in activities that were either gender-consistent or gender-inconsistent. Children who were more ‘gender-schematic’ tend to recall gender-consistent information more accurately, and more likely to distort gender-inconsistent information.

Question 40

Why does reliance on gender-schemas tend to decrease with age.

Answer 40

Older children tend to have a more elaborate and complete knowledge of gender roles, so they can apply it more flexibly.

Question 41

What are 2 ways parents can influence children’s gender behaviours and gender typing?

Answer 41

1) Directly instruct children to behave in certain (gender typed) ways
2) Implicitly model or reinforce certain types of behavior (treating boys & girls differently, encourage gender-appropriate activities and disapprove of gender-inappropriate actions, choice of clothes and toys for them)

Question 42

How do parents tend to treat sons and daughters differently?

Answer 42

Both parents tend to be more verbally responsive and emotionally supportive towards daughters.
Fathers more likely to engage in active play and speak in ‘macho language’ to sons.

Question 43

What features do parents emphasise in sons and daughters respectively?

Answer 43

sons - emphasise size, strength, coordination, alertness

daughters - emphasise how soft, small, delicate, cuter, and finely-featured

Question 44

Which parent is more likely to treat male and female babies in more similar ways? Mother or Father?

Answer 44

Mother. Men are more likely than women to exert pressure, encourage and purchase gender-typed toys, especially for boys. Father is the principal agent of gender-role socialisation and the mother is less influential in this process

Question 45

In terms of child’s achievements, what are fathers more likely to emphasise for sons & daughters respoectively?

Answer 45

Sons - emphasise importance of career and occupational success, especially in the area of mathematics and scientific achievement.
daughters - emphasise interpersonal interactions instead and time spent

Question 46

Do children raised in gay and lesbian families differ in gender-role behaviour from those raised in heterosexual households?

Answer 46

No they dont differ in gender role behaviour

Question 47

How does having a sibling influence gender-typing?

Answer 47

Having an older sibling can influence younger sibling’s gender typing. Younger siblings were more likely to model their older siblings than other way round. Brother-brother pairs engaged in more masculine play
Sister-sister or older sister-younger brother pairs engaged in more feminine plays

Question 48

How do peers influence a child’s gender-typing?

Answer 48

Serve as enforcer of society’s gender roles standards, as well as define them.

Question 49

How do peers enforce society’s gender role standards?

Answer 49

Peers displayed marked reactions when children violated appropriate gender-role behaviour patterns. Boys were criticised 5-6 times more than girls. Girls tend to ignore rather than criticise girls who make such transgressions.

Question 50

Children tend to respond to feedback from ___-sex peers for appropriate gender role behaviors. What do children do when they are rewarded for appropriate gender-role behaviour?

Answer 50

same-sex peers (lead to gender segregation)

They tend to persist longer in the rewarded type of activity.

Question 51

Children tend to like and play with same-gender peers rather than opposite-gender peers. What are the 2 key reasons for gender segregation between boys and girls?

Answer 51

1) Girls view boys’ rough-and-tumble play style and competition-dominance orientation as aversive, hence they avoid interaction with boys
2) Girls find it difficult to influence boys. They influence each other successfully using their preferred method of making polite suggestions, but these tactics are not very effective with boys who prefer more direct demands. Since girls don’t like interacting with unresponsive children, they avoid them.

Question 52

How does stereotypical presentations of males and females on the media influence children?

Answer 52

Children who are heavy TV viewers are more likely to have stereotypical notions of gender and race and to show conformity to culturally accepted gender-role typing.

Question 53

In what ways does the classroom and school culture favour girls over boys?

Answer 53

Girls are more verbally orientated, better behaved and better at following rules, experience greater acceptance from teachers (likely female)
Tend to like school more and perform better
Boys create more problems and elicit more criticism from teachers. School system frowns upon the independent, assertive, competitive and boisterous qualities that culture have encouraged in them from infancy. Perform at lower level than their female peers

Question 54

How do teachers respond to children in gender-stereotypic ways?

Answer 54

Teachers interrupt girls more frequently than boys during conversations
Pay more attention to boys’ assertive behaviour than to girls’ pushing and shoving
They respond to girls’ social initiatives, such as talking and gesturing, more than boys

Question 55

How do teachers influence how well children do in different school subjects?

Answer 55

Encourage boys in mathematical pursuits and stress languages more for girls. Children pick up on teachers’ stereotypical beliefs. Boys show greater interest and expectations for success in mathematics and science, while girls show more interest and self-perceived competence in reading and writing. As children get older, girls express a decreased liking for mathematics and are more likely to drop it when given the opportunity due to lack of positive reinforcement for studying it.

Question 56

What are androgynous people charcterised by?

Answer 56

possess a combination of masculine & feminine psychological characteristics.

Question 57

What are some characteristics of androgynous children?

Answer 57

Less likely to make stereotyped choices of play, activities, and occupations.
Better adjusted and more creative
Higher self-esteem
Those who are accepting of themselves as a typical member of their own gender, and feel that is OK to cross gender boundaries are better adjusted.
Children can be taught to be more androgynous.

Question 58

What is the difference between ethnicity and race?

Answer 58

Race is concerned with biological characteristics.
Ethnicity is concerned with social and psychological characteristics. Often denotes the social, cognitive, and cultural consequences of an individual’s membership in the race group

Question 59

What is ethnic awareness?

Answer 59

The ability to identify ethnic groups

Question 60

Younger children (up to age 7) tend to give the most favourable assessments of the doll that relates to their own group. Does this apply to all children?

Answer 60

No. Preference for own group was present for white children but black children showed a more equivocal evaluation of the doll that represented their ethnic group. Children from ethnic minority groups make less favourable evaluations of their own ethnic group compared with children from the majority group.

Question 61

What are the 2 theories of ethnic prejudice?

Answer 61

1) ‘Social reflection’ theories of prejudice

2) Cognitive theory

Question 62

What does ‘social reflection’ theories of prejudice propose?

Answer 62

Argue that children’s attitudes are merely a reflection of their social environment. They start off as naive, blank slates, and gradually acquire negative ethnic attitudes towards some ethnic groups.

Question 63

What is a criticism of the ‘social reflection’ theory of prejudice?

Answer 63

Not all children grow up to reproduce the prejudices of their parents. Younger children often hold more extreme negative ethnic attitudes than older children

Question 64

What does the cognitive theory of prejudice argue?

Answer 64

Argue that ethnic attitudes and prejudice were a consequence of children’s cognitive abilities, and a change in children’s orientation to groups.

Question 65

Describe the cognitive theory of prejudice.

Answer 65

In preschool, young children are fearful because such individuals are unfamiliar. Early fear response gives way to focus on perceptually unfamiliar things. Emphasizes difference, associated with negative ethnic attitudes towards unfamiliar groups.
During late childhood, children begin to understand that individual characteristics are important, their childish negative attitudes of ethnic prejudice diminish.

Question 66

How does studies of ethnic constancy support the cognitive theory of prejudice?

Answer 66

Changing the appearance of an individual with ethnicity will lead young children to say that the person’s ethnicity has changed. But older children with ethnic constancy, that to have less negative ethnic attitudes and prejudices, suggesting that cognitive and social knowledge could play a role in ethnic prejudice.

Question 67

What is a criticism of the cognitive theory of prejudice that suggests that older children with ethnic constancy have less ethnic prejudice & attitudes?

Answer 67

Nesdale argues that these negative attitudes do not decline after age 7, but rather ‘driven underground’ because children begin to appreciate that these attitudes are not considered socially desirable. They will still show preference for their own ethnic group when implicit tests of attitudes are taken

Question 68

What does Nesdale’s Social Identity Development Theory (SIDT) suggest?

Answer 68

suggest that ethnic attitude are largely learned from society, not innate. Ethnic prejudice is the endpoint of development where children’s attitudes go through 4 stages. (Undifferentiated –> ethnic awareness –> ethnic preference –> ethnic prejudice)