Chapter 13: Gender and Development Flashcards
what is a persons sex
person’s biological identity
Chromosomes, physical identity and hormones
what is a persons gender
“Socially and culturally constructed roles, relationships, behaviours, relative power and other traits that society ascribes to females, males and people of diverse gender identities”
gender stereotypes
beliefs about how males and females differ in personality traits, interests, and behaviours
how do we view men and women
Most adults associate different traits with men and women
In North America, males are seen as instrumental, women as expressive
what does it mean to be instrumental
acts on world and influence it (action based). Men said to be independent, competitive, aggressive, outgoing, ambitious, self-confident, and dominant
what does it mean to be expressive
emotional functioning, valuing interpersonal relationships. Women said to be emotional, kind, creative, considerate, gentle, excitable, and aware of the others feelings
knowledge of gender-stereotyped activities at what age?
by age 4
- begun to learn about behaviours and traits that are stereotypically masculine/feminine
preschoolers gender-stereotyped activities
Preschoolers believe boys more often aggressive physically, and girls tend to be aggressive verbally
learning gender stereotypes during elementary school
- children learn that traits and occupations associated with males have higher status
older children see stereotypes as
- general guidelines that are not necessarily binding for all boys and girls, older children more willing than younger to ignore stereotypes when judging other children
o older children’s cognitive development allows them to understand that stereotypes are generalizations that do not necessarily apply to all people
girls vs boys and gender stereotypes
girls tend to be more flexible about stereotypes
adolescents from middle-class homes tend to
have more flexible ideas about gender than those from lower-class homes
- better educated middle class parents may impart less rigid views of gender to their children
Differences in physical development and behaviour between boys and girls
boys tend to be bigger, stronger, faster, more active
girls tend to be healthier, and better on tasks requiring fine-motor coordination, female embryos are more likely than male embryos to survive prenatal development
physical development of boys
- infant boys more prone to birth complications, and throughout life
- prone to many diseases and dysfunctions
- more likely to engage in unhealthy, risk-taking behaviours (drinking alcohol, reckless driving, sexual activity)
- bigger, stronger, faster, more active
verbal ability girls vs boys
- girls excel at reading, spelling, and writing, and are less likely to have language-related difficulties, larger vocabularies, more talkative
- boys: more are diagnosed with language-related problems such as reading disability, or specific language impairment
- left hemisphere may develop more quickly, it is central to language, more mature in girls
- mothers tend to talk more to girls than boys
spatial ability boys vs girls
boys tend to surpass girls at mental rotation and determining relations between objects in space
spatial memory boys vs girls
- ability to remember the position of objects in the environment
- females tend to have better memory for spatial locations of objects
math: girls vs boys
- girls tend to perform better on tests than boys in elementary schools, but this reverses in high school and college
- Efforts to encourage girls in math and science have succeeded in reducing gender gaps in these subjects
differences in personality and social behaviour
GIRLS
- Girls tend to use relational aggression rather than physical aggression, they hurt others by damaging their relationship with peers
- Girls tend to be better than boys at expressing emotions and interpreting others emotions
BOYS
- Boys are more likely to be physically aggressive
- Boys are exposed to aggressive male models in the media
- Parents tend to be more tolerant of aggressive behaviour in sons than daughters
aggressive behaviour linked to
to androgens, hormones secreted by testes
Androgens make it more likely that boys will be aggressive by making them more excitable or easily angered and by making boys stronger
why are girls better at expressing emotions and interpreting others emotions
- Regions of the brains temporal loves that play role in processing emotional expression develop more rapidly in girls than in boys
- Parents are more “feeling oriented” with daughters than with sons, more likely to talk about emotions with girls and emphasize the importance of considering others
who is more likely to be depressed?
Adolescent girls more likely than boys to be depressed, girls experience more frequent stressors such as dissatisfaction with their appearance after pubertal change or conflict with close friends, girls more apt to interpret negative life events in harmful terms, emphasizing social-emotional consequences to greater extent than boys
social influence boys vs girls
- Girls more likely to comply with adults request and more likely to seek an adults help
- Girls/women more than boys/men by persuasive messages and others behaviour, especially when under pressure
physical development: motor skills
boys excel at task that require strength
girls do better on tasks that require fine-motor coordination
physical development: activity
beginning from infancy, boys more active than girls
physical development: health
from conception through adulthood, girls are healthier
intellectual abilities: verbal ability
girls have larger vocabularies
- read, write, spell better
intellectual abilities: spatial ability
boys are better on mental rotation tasks and in determining relations between objects in space,
- girls have better spatial location memory
intellectual abilities: mathematics
boys get higher scores on standardized
- primarily in countries where girls have limited educational and career opportunities
personality and social behaviour: aggression
boys are more aggressive physically
girl rely on more relational aggression
personality and social behaviour: emotional sensitivity
girls are better able to identify and express emotions
personality and social behaviour: social influence
because girls value group harmony more than boys do
girls are more susceptible to others influence
personality and social behaviour: depression
beginning in adolescence, girls more prone to depression than boys
Frank Talk about gender differences
- Gender differences represent differences in average scores for groups of males and females; differences are relatively small
- Distributions of scores have considerable overlap and differences are small
- Many abilities and behaviours don’t show and gender differences
influence of culture
- Impact of expectations on ability and vocational opportunities
Self-fulfilling prophecy
- Parental expectations
- Scholastic influences
socializing influences of people and the media
- Parents treat sons and daughters alike except for behaviour related to gender roles
- Parents more positive when children play with toys typical for their sex
- Fathers more likely to encourage behaviour associated with gender stereotypes
how teachers treat boys and girls
- Many teachers make gender salient/noticeable in the classroom, and interact more with boys than girls
- Unaware they do this
peers and gender
- Peers tend to be critical of cross-gender play; once children learn rules about gender-typical play they often react harshly to perceive violations
when do children begin to prefer playing with same-sex peers?
between 2-3 years
- Girls interactions with one another are typically enabling—their actions and remarks tend to support others and sustain the interaction
- Boys interactions are often constricting—one partner tries to emerge as the victor by threatening or contradicting the other, by exaggerating etc.
- Early segregation of playmates means that boys learn primarily from boys, and girls from girls, reinforcing gender differences in play
influence of television on gender
- Women on tv tend to be cast in romantic, marital or family roles, depicted as emotional, passive and weak
- Men more often cast in leadership or professional roles and depicted as rational, active, strong
cognitive theories of gender identity
- Gender identity develops gradually
Child develops an understanding of gender labeling, stability, consistency, and constancy - By 4 years, children understand gender constancy and know gender-typical and gender-atypical activities
gender labeling
by age 2-3, children understand they they are either boys or girls and label themselves
gender stability
during preschool years, children begin to understand that gender is stable—boys become men, girls become women
gender consistency
between 4-7, most children understand that maleness and femaleness do not change over situations or according to personal wishes
gender-schema theory
once children learn their gender, they pay more attention to objects and activities that are considered gender appropriate
gender dysphoria
The experience of extreme discomfort with one’s gender assigned at birth
- In many cases (2-30% in natal males; 12-50% in natal females), such children do not continue to have gender dysphoria when they grow older
- For natal males for whom the dysphoria does not persist 63-100% self-identify as gay or homosexual
- Individuals with gender dysphoria have been reported across many countries and cultures
biological influences on gender
Evolutionary adaptation to male and female roles may influence gender differences
- Women invested in child rearing
- Men invested in providing important resources for offspring—became more aggressive because behaviour was adaptive in helping ward off predators
testosterone in amniotic fluid
The amount of testosterone in amniotic fluid predicts a child’s preference for masculine sex-typed activities
congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH)
Girls who are affected by CAH are exposed to large amounts of androgen during prenatal development and tend to prefer masculine activities and male playmates
- In girls: can enlarge clitoris and resemble penis
- Girls with CAH prefer masculine activities
androgyny
Balance or blending of both masculine and feminine-stereotyped traits
androgynous
people are rated high on both the instrumental and expressive dimensions, can be both independent and emotional, self-confident and considerate, ambitious and creative
4 advantages of androgyny
(greater for girls)
- More flexible an adaptable
- Higher self-esteem
- Better adjusted
- More likely to express their thoughts and feelings publicly
disadvantage of androgyny
children may be rejected by peers
beyond traditional gender roles
- Children can be taught to have fewer stereotyped views of occupations and household activities in the short term
- Parents may influence children by not being gender bound themselves
- Parents should base decisions about toys, activities and chores on individual child, not child’s sex
- Children can’t be sheltered from forces outside the home that shape gender roles, but parents can encourage critical thinking about gender-based choices of others
