6/10- Psychosocial (Gender and Sexual Identity) Development

Question 1

What is sex?

Answer 1

A persons’ biological identity (chromosomes, genitalia…)

Question 2

What is gender?

Answer 2

A person’s social and cultural identity as male or female (how other people understand your sex based on behavior, appearance, etc.); culturally determined social meanings and characteristics

Question 3

What is gender identity?

Answer 3

One’s awareness of one’s gender and its implications

Question 4

What is gender role standard?

Answer 4

A behavior, value, or motive that members of a society consider more typical or appropriate for members of one sex; also culturally determined

Question 5

What is gender typing?

Answer 5

The process by which a child becomes aware of his or her gender and acquires motives, values, and behaviors considered appropriate for members of that sex

Question 6

What are the 3 components of gender typing?

Answer 6

1. Gender identity
2. Gender-role stereotypes
3. Gender-based behavior

Question 7

Gender identity by age?

Answer 7

0-2: gender discrimination; self labeling

• 4 mo old infants can discriminate male/female voices
• 1 yo infants can discriminate male/female faces

3-6: gender conservation (permanence of the situation… I am a boy now and will be in the future)

• Labeling typ established by 3, but not future-oriented (may fear that behavior can change gender)

7-11: awareness of gender typicality or variance and connectedness

12-adult: identity saliency increases (know what you are, understand differences, place self on spectrum)

Question 8

Gender stereotyping by age?

Answer 8

0-2: early emergence (early ideas); primarily influenced by parent attitudes toward child

3-6: interests, activities and occupations (rigid)

• Grade school kids draw sharp distinctions between sexes on psychological dimensions and treat stereotypes as “rules”

7-11: personality traits and achievement domains (less rigid)

12-adult: gender intensification

*First learn positive traits of their own gender and negative traits of the other gender

• Early on the rigidity reflects an ego-centric need to have clear cognitive representations of gender roles

**In latency, can discriminate between obligatory and non-obligatory standards (boys don’t usually play with dolls but it’s not a bad thing)

Question 9

When do you see increases in bullying based on gender identity/stereotyping?

Answer 9

Middle school

Question 10

What is gender intensification?

Answer 10

Magnification of sex differences that is associated with increased pressure to conform to gender roles

• Influenced by parents, friendships, romantic pursuits and social pressures
• Intensity lessens by late adolescence but even adults remain very intolerant of males that disregard gender-role prescriptions

Question 11

Gender typed behavior by age?

Answer 11

0-2: toy/activity preferences; gender segregation

• Preferences emerge as early as 1 yo; many 18-24 mo will refuse to play with cross-gendered toys even if no others are available

3-6: toy/activity preferences and gender segregation increases

• By age 5, will actively reject opposite sex playmates

7-11: toy/activity preference increases (boys > girls); segregation persists

• By age 10, those that maintain clear boundaries with same gender play partners are seen as more popular and socially competent

12-adult: conformity increases and gender segregation decreases

Question 12

Why do boys face greater pressure to conform to traditional gender role behavior?

Answer 12

Many cultures assign greater status to male gender role; also reason why girls retain male interests longer in latency (given more leeway; male role is valued)

Question 13

What probably triggers gender conformity in girls during adolescence?

Answer 13

• Possibly feminization of their bodies during puberty
• Need to attract partners
• Cognitive groth that results in increased consciousness of body image, other’s opinions of them, and increased susceptibility to gender intensification

Question 14

Boys or girls have more developmental vulnerability?

Answer 14

Developmental vulnerability: boys

• Boys more vulnerable to prenatal and perinatal exposures and experience higher rates of autism, LD, ADHD, emotional disorders, MR

Question 15

Boys or girls are more verbal?

Answer 15

Verbal: girls

• Girls show earlier acquisition and development of verbal skills, especially comprehension and fluency and test higher in comprehension through adolescence; boys show some advantage in verbal analogies

Question 16

Boys or girls are more visual/spatial?

Answer 16

Visual/spatial: boys

• Boys have slight advantage, detectable as early as age 4 that persists across lifetime; testosterone may stimulate these areas of the brain

Question 17

Boys are girls are more mathematical?

Answer 17

Mathematical: boys and girls

• Boys have better arithmetic reasoning, especially among high achievers and problem-solving skills
• Girls have better computational skills and tend to have better math grades

Question 18

Boys or girls are more active?

Answer 18

Activity: boys

• Boys more active prior to and after birth, through childhood and have a preference for rough and tumble play
• Girls are less likely to initiate or be receptive to R and T play

Question 19

Boys or girls are more aggressive?

Answer 19

Aggression: boys (slightly girls)

• Boys show more physical and verbal aggression as early as age 2 and evidence 10x as much antisocial and violent crime as girls in adolescence
• Girls typically express hostility through covert means, including snubbing, ignoring or undermining social status or relationships

Question 20

Boys or girls are more compliant?

Answer 20

Compliance: girls

• From preschool, girls are more likely to comply with requests and demands of authority figures; girls use tact and polite suggestion to encourage compliance in others
• Boys tend to use demanding or controlling strategies

Question 21

Boys or girls are more risk takers?

Answer 21

Risk taking: boys

• Boys are more likely to take risks in uncertain situations (partially due to higher levels of activity but also determined by parents permissiveness and tendency to enforce rules against risk taking with their daughters rather than sons) which persists through adolescence and results in experiencing more consequences

Question 22

Boys or girls are more expressive?

Answer 22

Expressivity: girls

• Infant emotional displays are equivocal
• From toddlerhood onward boys express primarily anger whereas
• Girls have a greater range of emotional expression and verbiage
• This is partially influenced by parents tendency to talk with their daughters about emotions and emotional events than their sons

Question 23

Boys or girls are more sensitive/empathic?

Answer 23

Sensitivity/empathy: boys and girls

• While girls and women tend to describe themselves as more nurturant and empathic; studies suggest that girls and boys react equivocally to other’s distress and show equivocal amounts of concern and affection toward pets and older relatives
• So they may feel the same, but manage that feeling differently

Question 24

Boys or girls are more fearful/timid?

Answer 24

Fear and timidity: girls

• Girls more likely to be fearful, timid, cautious and less assertive in uncertain situations as early as 1 year of age

Question 25

Boys or girls have more self-esteem?

Answer 25

Self-esteem: **boys** - Boys show higher global self esteem that becomes more noticeable in adolescences and persists into adulthood

Question 26

Characteristics of boy vs. girl play

Answer 26

Some of these are old ideas... changing **Boy**: - Larger groups, rougher and more expansive, streets and public places - Friendships based on mutual interest and activity - In groups they argue, heckle speakers, and call names; there is more conflict, threats of physical force but without interfering with group continuance **Girl**: - Smaller groups, quieter play, in private homes or yards - Friendships based on mutuality, sharing with 1 or 2 girls and breakups result in more intense emotional reactions - In groups, they are more likely to express agreement, pause to include others, have less conflict and strive to achieve consensus through "conflict mitigating strategies"

Question 27

Characteristics of psychological androgyny?

Answer 27

- Having male and female gender roles - Androgynous individuals more frequently express happiness, sadness, love, hate as compared to individuals having masculine, feminine or undifferentiated gender roles - Masculine gender role more than biological sex predicts expression of anger and feminine gender role more than biological sex predicts expression of anger at lower levels

Question 28

Theories: evolutionary

Answer 28

- Evolutionary pressure and natural selection - **Expressive role of women** (a social prescription, usually directed toward females, that one should be cooperative, kind, nurturant, and sensitive to the needs of others) - **Instrumental role of men** (a social prescription, usually directed toward males, that one should be dominant, independent, assertive, competitive and goal oriented) - Women biologically need to dedicate more time to procreation (gestation) which required traits to promote raising of children (kindness, gentility, nurturant traits) and to prefer men that would be kind and provide resources to ensure the child’s survival - Men biologically dedicate less time to procreation and their survival is best ensured by multiple partners leading to increased competitiveness, assertiveness and aggression which increase their chances of attracting a mate and procuring resources; they cite improved visual spatial skills of men (needed for hunting) as evidence

Question 29

Theories: biosocial

Answer 29

A series of critical events affect a person’s preference for the masculine or feminine gender role - Biological: about **50%** of the differences in people’s **masculine** self concepts are accounted for by **genotype** but only **0-20%** of the differences in their **feminine** self concepts

Question 30

Theories: psychoanalytic

Answer 30

Gender identity and roles develop during the **phallic stage** of development **(ages 3-6)** as children begin to emulate and identify with the same-sex parent (**Freud**)

Question 31

Theories: social learning

Answer 31

- **Direct tuition**: children are encouraged and rewarded for gender appropriate behaviors - **Observational learning**: adopt the attitudes and behaviors of a variety of same-sex models

Question 32

Theories: cognitive developmental

Answer 32

Gender role development depends on **cognitive development** - Basic gender identity - Gender stability - Gender consistency (conservation) **Self-socialization**

Question 33

Theories: gender schema

Answer 33

**Gender schema**- organized sets of beliefs and expectations about males and females that influence the kinds of information attended to, elaborated and remembered

Question 34

What are the overall different theories?

Answer 34

- Evolutionary - Biosocial - Psychoanalytic - Social learning - Cognitive- developmental - Gender schema

Question 35

Integrative table: events/outcome and theory by age

Answer 35

Question 36

What components are involved in sexual identity?

Answer 36

**- Sexual self esteem** **- Sexual self efficacy** **- Sexual attitudes** The point is that sexual identity development is more than just sexual behavior and orientation; incorporates ideas of **sensuality, intimacy, sexual identity, and sexual health**

Question 37

What is **sexual identity** development?

Answer 37

Process of mastering emerging sexual feelings and forming a **sense of oneself as a sexual being**

Question 38

What is sexual **orientation**?

Answer 38

Person’s **erotic and emotional preference** (in fantasy, arousal, sexual behavior, identity and social role) toward same or opposite sex

Question 39

Sexual identity in infancy?

Answer 39

- **Oedipus** and Electra (Freud believed instinctual sexual drives were inborn in the intra-psychic world of children)... now think more due to attachment than sexuality - **Infant self stimulation**

Question 40

Sexual identity in preadolescence?

Answer 40

- Body awareness - Physiologic function - Sexualized behavior

Question 41

How do girls and boys respond to changes during puberty?

Answer 41

- Parental, peer and community reactions to puberty affect the way the adolescent understands the process as a negative, positive or embarrassing phase of development.

Question 42

Outcomes of early maturation in boys and girls?

Answer 42

Question 43

Outcomes of late maturation in boys and girls?

Answer 43

Question 44

What determines sexual orientation?

Answer 44

- **Biological factors** are thought to **predominate** - There is **little support** for any particular contributing **environmental** factor in determining sexual orientation - **Environmental factors are likely to influence the expression** of sexual attraction, behavior, and orientation labels

Question 45

Breakdown of sexual attraction by gender

Answer 45

Question 46

Sexual behavior includes what? Breakdown of sexual behavior by gender?

Answer 46

- Fantasy - Masturbation - Partnered behavior - Intercourse

Question 47

What is coming out? When does it begin?

Answer 47

- Coming out is a unique developmental task for same sex attracted youth - It is a lifelong process and most typically begins in late adolescence or early adulthood - More recent data suggest that adolescent as disclosing same sex attraction **as early as 13** years of age