Chapter 5 Flashcards
When tracing back 100,000 years, we are all ____
Africans
T/F humans have little that is universal
F. Many aspects are universal.
How did the difference in color of skin happen?
Africans stayed in Africa (sunscreen for tropics)
More north, evolved to have vitamin D without much directed sunlight
Evolutionary Psychology
Natural selection and its relation to predisposing psychological traits in genes
Sex
Male/Female. Biological distinction. (Chromosomes, genitals, secondary sex diffs)
Gender
Characteristics that people associate with (due to biology, culture, or both)
Differences in behavior between boys and girls is sex or gender?
Gender
How has treatment of intersex individuals changed?
Before: assigned gender at birth and diminished sex diffs surgically
Now: some wait until the child identifies till surgery
How many Americans are transgender?
4/1000
Why might men have stronger sex drives?
Evolutionary psychology: It’s more costly for women to have sex.
Why might men be more aggressive?
Physically dominant men have had more success in getting access to females
Genghis Khan is an ancestor of ___________
approx 1 in 200 men worldwide
Evolutionarily, why might women want male achievers?
They want someone who can raise their child without financial struggles
What do men want?
Healthy and youthful women. (fertility)
Are mate preferences universal?
They are pretty universal. As evolutionary perspective predicts.
Gender and Hormones. Why is it important?
More testosterone in men. Genes don’t tell full story.
What can increase/decrease testosterone?
Aggression increases. Compassion decreases.
Androgynous.
Merging of male and female characteristics. Happens as people grow into adult life.
Critique of Evolutionary Psychology (or evolutionary explanations)
Easy to use hindsight (nothing can be wrong! anything can be retrofitted.)
Why is it not genes vs. culture?
They interact. Like how you can’t taste tea without hot water.
Epigenetics: environmental influence on gene expression
Are we moving towards a uniform global culture?
No, local cultures are very enduring.
Norms
“proper”, accepted/standard behavior
What do some Muslim women see as a social byproduct of wearing hijabs?
Encourages men to see them less as a sex object.
In what culture is punctuality different?
Latin America
Collectivistic cultures and stigmatization
More likely to stigmatize those who stand out
Many collectivistic cultures promote idea that human suffering (like disease) is from what?
Violating social norms
Why might collectivistic countries be more strict on rules?
They historically were more vulnerable to threats and diseases
What countries tend to prefer less distance (more touching/hugging)?
Countries near the equator
How is nurturing assumption contested about how parents influence beliefs and stuff?
Growing up in the same family has little influence on personality traits
How much genetic influence on personality?
40%
Shared home influence on personality
0 to 1 %
parents have influence on children, but what’s the catch?
Their influence is mostly indirect. (eg. they choose the schools neighborhoods, etc.)
Example of gender roles varying with culture
When asked if prefer both spouses working or woman stay at home, 21/22 say both.
BUT! Pakistan disagreed 4 to 1. Spain concurred 13 to 1.
How are gender roles changing over time?
More gender equal.
How many inches shorter is the average woman?
5 inches
What percentage more fat does the average woman have?
70%
Are women more likely to face depression or anxiety disorders?
Yes. 2x
Which gender is more likely to change roommates?
Women 2x.
An AI program that was taught to detect the author’s gender of books was right ____% of the time
80%
How do women and men differ in vocation?
Men more jobs related to things. Women do jobs related to people
Are women or men better at math?
Women desire math vocations less, but they are as capable.
T/F: women gravitate more towards jobs that reduce inequities, while men do the opposite.
True
Why might both men and women tend to prefer female friendships?
Empathy.
Which gender is better at decoding emotional messages
Women
Which gender is more successfully in conveying emotion non-verbally?
Women
Are men more concerned about being defined as feminine or are women more concerned about being defined as masculine?
Men are more concerned.
Aggression
Behavior intended to hurt
Under what circumstances might women be even the same or even more aggressive than men?
Provoked and minor ways of aggression (eg. verbal, slap, etc.)
What is an example of an indirect aggressive act?
Spreading malicious gossip.
Attractive member of other sex approaches stranger and asks if they want to have sex. Differences in gender responses from stranger?
Men: 3/4 said yes
Women: 0 said yes
Attractive member of other sex approaches stranger and asks on a date. Differences in gender responses from stranger?
Half said yes, half said no
Is it true that cross-culturally, men are more willing to engage in casual sex?
Yes. Also for lesbian and gay too.
Amongst college students and by gender, how often do they think about sex?
Men once per hour.
Women once every 2 hours.
Which gender is more likely to initiate sexual activity?
Men
When there are fewer available men, what happens to teen pregnancy rate?
Higher
____ differences far exceed _____ differences
individual; gender
David Schmitt found what?
Personality traits differ amongst genders in richer and more egalitarian countries.
