2.3 Influence of Culture and Media on Gender Roles

Question 1

What are gender roles?

Answer 1

A set of behaviours and attitudes that are considered typical of one gender and atypical of the other

Question 2

What is culture?

Answer 2

The ideas, customs and social behaviour of a particular group or people in society

Question 3

What the implications of cross-cultural research on understanding gender roles?

Answer 3

• If a gender-role behaviour is consistent across different cultures, can conclude an innate/biological difference between genders
• Whereas, if its culturally specific, this suggests shared norms/socialisation

Question 4

Describe Mead’s (1935) cross-cultural research

Answer 4

- Arapesh: gentle and responsive (similar to stereotype of femininity in societies)
- Mundugumor: aggressive and hostile (similar to stereotype of masculinity in societies)
- Tchambuli: women were dominant and organized village life, men were considered decorative

• Suggests gender roles may be culturally determined

Question 5

Describe Buss’ (1995) findings

Answer 5

• Found consistent patterns in male preference (gender-role behaviour) in 37 continents across all continents
• Women: sought men offering wealth and resources
• Men: sought youth and physical attractiveness

Question 6

Describe the effect of media on gender roles

Answer 6

The media provides role models that children identify with and want to imitate

Question 7

What did Furnham and Farragher (2000) find in their study on rigid stereotypes?

Answer 7

• Studied TV adverts
• Found men more likely to be shown in autonomous roles in professional contexts
• Women were seen in familial/domestic roles
• Media plays a role in reinforcing gender stereotypes

Question 8

What is self-efficacy?

Answer 8

When a child sees other people perform gender-appropriate behaviours, increasing their belief that they are capable of carrying out such behaviours in the
future

Question 9

Describe Mitra et al’s (2019) study on self-efficacy

Answer 9

• Analysed attitudes of people in India who watched programme designed to challenge stereotypes
• Girls who watched were more likely to see themselves working outside the home compared to non-viewers

Question 10

AO3 for influence of culture on gender roles

Answer 10

1. Research support (strength):
- Hofstede (2001)=the changing status/expectations of women in industrialised cultures is due to their active role in the workplace, away from the domestic sphere
- breakdown of traditional stereotypes
- e.g in traditional societies women occupy role as house-maker
- result of social, cultural, religious pressures
- supports gender determined by cultural context

2. Mead’s research (limitation):
- generalisations on a short period of study
- Freeman (1983)=follow-up study of Mead’s investigation
- argued her findings flawed as misled by participants
- preconceptions of what she would find influenced her judgement (observer bias/ethnocentrism)
- her interpretations not objective, conclusions questioned

Question 11

AO3 for influence of media on gender roles

Answer 11

1. Cultivation theory (strength):
- theory argues more time people spend living in the media world, the more likely to believe it is reflective of society
- Bond + Drogos (2014)=positive correlation on time spent watching TV and permissive attitudes towards casual sex
- effect was still true when researchers controlled factors e.g sexual/parental/religious attitudes
- media cultivates perception of reality

2. Passive recipients (limitation):
- may not be a casual relationship
- Durkin (1985)=even young children are not passive and uncritical recipients of media
- norms within family may be bigger determinant of gender attitudes
- if media confirm existing gender norms of child, more likely to be reinforced
- if not, then rejected
- media influences secondary to others