Androgyny and sex-role stereotypes

Question 1

define sex

Answer 1

biological characteristics, chromosomal patterns determine which reproductive organs you are born with - males XY and female XX

Question 2

define gender

Answer 2

social construct of how society defines what it means to be a man or a woman - categorise traits and behaviours as masculine or feminine

Question 3

define androgyny

Answer 3

andro = male. gyny = female
combination of male and female characteristics

Question 4

define transgender

Answer 4

an individual whose gender identity differs from their biological sex, can lead to gender dysphoria

Question 5

gender stereotypes

Answer 5

• based on societal expectations
• reinforced from birth. children treated differently based on sex
• both implicit and explicit (social learning) we are socialised into gender roles

Question 6

Androgyny (Bem, 1974)

Answer 6

• masculinity and femininity are traits independent to biological sex - they’re not inevitably linked
• a person can score high or low on either or both regardless of their biological sex

Question 7

Androgyny testing (Bem, 1974)

Answer 7

People taking the test are asked to rate how much they feel each trait fits their personalities- a person can score high or low on either or both regardless of their biological sex

Question 8

Bem sex role inventory (BSRI)

Answer 8

• measures gender
• first systematic attempt to measure androgyny using a rating scale of 60 traits (20 masc, fem and neutral)

Question 9

What are the results of a BSRI

Answer 9

produces scores across two dimensions:
- masculinity/femininity
- androgynous/undifferentiated

Question 10

Gender Schema Theory

Answer 10

Bem found that more people were androgynous than at the extremes
- those with androgynous cognitive styles are mentally healthier as they feel less pressure to conform to gender stereotypes and societal expectations

Question 11

strength - androgyny

Answer 11

Evidence supporting sex-role stereotypes are assigned to children
- Smith and Lloyd (1978), videotaped mothers play w/ a baby dressed as its opposite gender; parental behaviour impacts learning sex role stereotypes

Question 12

Strengths of BSRI

Answer 12

Research support for androgyny
- e.g, Prakash et al. 100 females tested, those with masculinity scores had lower depression scores, those with higher femininity scores had a higher depression scores. more androgynous = better mental health
High reliability
- e.g test has a correlation range from 0.76 to 0.94 = high test - retest reliabilty. ppts give consistent responses

Question 13

Limitation of BSRI

Answer 13

Lacks temporal validity
- Hoffman and Boardes (2001) asked 400 graduates to rate the items in BSRI as masc and fem , 2 items still endorsed as masc/fem = attitudes have changed since then