Exam #2 Sex and Gender Flashcards
play
boys > girls
correlated with aggressive play
toy preferences
as early as 18 to 24 months
boys: cars, trucks and action figures
girls: dolls, play sets
toy preferences: non-human primates
Hassett, Sibert and Wallen
Used the Berenbaum and Hines paradigm on Rhesus monkeys
- showed same patterns of toy preferences
- boys more gendered preferences
- girls less gender-typed
interpersonal differences: interaction stlyes/ compliance
- depends on interaction partner
- adult = girls more compliant
- mixed-sex = girls
- same-sex = no differences
interpersonal differences: aggression
- depends on type of aggression
- over aggression - boys > girls
- relational aggression - girls > boys
school-related differences
achievement
- depends on the indicator
- grades - girls > boys
- achievement test scores - boys = girls
effort - girls > boys
self-evaluation
- depends on subject area
- more sex-stereotyped - boys will say they are good at math whereas girls with say they are less good even if skills are the same
emotional differences
Emotional expressivity: girls > boys
Empathy/pro-social behavior
- Relatively equal
- Girls slightly higher
Anxiety: girls > boys
Depression: depends on:
- Age - pre-adolescence = boys
- Adolescence = girls
- Until 65 when rates become equivalent
Ethnicity - black children have lower rates of depression than white and Latinx children (currently being questioned)
sex hormones and gender typing
- Organizing and activating effects on nervous system
- Difference in prenatal hormones changes how the brain develops
- Girls have a faster left posterior brain development meaning female have more language development
- Boys have a faster right brain development meaning that they have more shape development
- Males are more likely to be left-handed
play styles and preference for same-sex peers
rat pups
biological sex and rearing mismatches
The Reimer twins
One raised as a boy
Other raised as a girl due to a botched circumcision
In adolescence, Brenda was unhappy and found out about the surgery and wanted to still be a boy
congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH)
Bernebaum and Hines - metabolic deficiency in an adrenal enzyme
Exposed to high levels of androgen pre and postnatally
Examited toy preferences “girls” vs “boys” toys
Girls with CAH show toy preferences similar to those of boys
Hormones may affect toy choice indirectly by influencing on activity levels because certain toys facilitate more active play
androgen insensitive syndrome (AIS)
males who are born that show external female genitalia but not internal
perceptions and expectations of adults
Provenzano and Luria - studied parent perceptions of newborns
Rating the characteristics of day-old infants using an adjective checklist
Two infants were presented to each parent matched on height and weight
Parents are told that Chid A is a boy and Child B is a girl - the opposite was true
Parents consistently rated infants in sex-role stereotyped manner
Fathers are more likely to do this
treatment by parents: infancy and early childhood
Based on what they are wearing - blue or pink
Adults treated them differently
Girls - spoke softer, called them beautiful, cradles
Boys - moved them around, spoke louder
treatment by parents: middle childhood
“Target” child plays with either sex-role “appropriate” or sex-role “inappropriate” toys
Examine the reaction of mothers, fathers, and same-sex peers
mothers vs fathers
Mothers - mixed with bos, “traditional” with girls
Fathers
More negative with sons than daughters
Most negative when a son played with “inappropriate” toys
Likely to interfere with play
Make negative statements
Ridicule the child
Less likely to be involved with infants than mother
More likely to play with sons than daughters
Fathers play differently than mothers - “rough and tumble”
peers
Discouraged sex-role “inappropriate”
Encouraged sex-role “appropriate”
teachers
Differential treatment
Interrupt girls > boys
Call on boys > girls
Boys: praise knowledge
Girls: praise obedience
Scolding : boys > girls
Even in teachers who try to be gender neutral
marketing
Color coding
Boys have blue toys
Girls have pink toys
Toy typing
Media
Books - gendered books
TV - 25% character roles are women
Men: powerful
Women: emotional
Correlational
Quasi-experimental research
Northern-Canadian town didn’t have TV until 1990s
Before TV 35% of children had a gendered stereotyped beliefs and then almost 80% after
peer influences
Peer influence grows from preschool on
Likely that peer influence is a life-long one
Emphasize “sex-role” appropriate behavior
Gender segregation
Starts at 3 years
Strengthens over time
Group norms differ
Boys: dominance
Girls: harmony
sibilings
Either 1 older sibling or no sibling
Mothers fill out a rating on the characteristics that child has
Boys
Same-sex sibling score the highest for mean masculinity score
No sibling - slightly less
Other-sex sibling - the lowest
Girls
Same-sex sibling score the lowest
No sibling - slightly more
Other-sex siblings - the highest
