final (textbook and lecture) Flashcards
what is culture?
- distinctive elements of a society or a community that are passed on from generation to generation and are the basis for everyday behaviours and practices
what is cultural identity? how is it formed?
- cultural identity: a person’s sense of belonging to a particular culture or group
- formed by internalizing the beliefs, values, norms, and social practices of one’s culture
how does sex differentiate from gender
- sex: biological categorization of people as female, male, or intersex
- gender: socially constructed, social and cultural meanings or interpretations of the different sex categories, including its commonly associated attributes
what is the difference between gender, gender identity, and gender expression
- gender: social and cultural construction of the different sex categories
- gender identity: a person’s deeply-felt inherent sense of being a certain gender that may or may not correspond with sex
- gender expression: how one presents/expresses themselves that communicate aspects of their gender or gender roles (e.g., clothing - butch/femme)
what is the difference between sexual orientation and sexual identity
-
sexual orientation: which gender(s) one is sexually attracted to
sexual identity: which sexual orientation one identifies with
what are two different ways of categorizing/measuring sexual orientation?
- as a binary construct (straight or gay?)
- on a scale, where one end has someone being exclusively straight, whereas the other end someone is exclusively gay
explain the genetic component of sexual orientation, and what this suggests?
- multiple genes play a role in determining same-sex sexual orientation
- the role of each gene on its own is relatively small, suggesting that differing sexual orientations is a natural variation of human experience
what is the “chosen lifestyle” theory
- one can “choose” to be a certain sexual orientation
- not supported by science
what are and aren’t the factors that play into gender identity
- are: environmental and biological factors
- aren’t: a matter of choice or confusion
- even transgender children showed patterns of gender cognition more consistent with their expressed than their assigned gender at birth
what is identity clarity? how might it relate to non-straight individuals?
- identity clarity: the extent that one understands their identity and the extent that it makes sense (I CANNOT FIND DEFINITION)
- among trans people, low gender identity clarity has been associated with suicidal ideation
- in gay and straight women, ambiguity about sexual identity has been associated with alcohol misuse and suicidal ideation
what is intersectionality?
- study of intersecting and overlapping social identities and labels
- related systems of discrimination and oppression
what are three problems with the historical study of sex differences
- reliance on sex/gender binaries and cisgender people
- possible exaggeration of differences, stereotype reinforcement (statistically-speaking there aren’t any significant differences in personality between sex)
- insufficient attention to intersecitonality
what is the most common way that sex differences are measured? describe the statistic used
- commonly measured using meta-analyses: where the results of multiple different studies are analyzed together
- effect size (d-statistic): the difference between groups in standard deviation units
what is the meaning of different effect sizes, and what are some nuances with interpreting these effect sizes in populations and individuals?
0.2: small
0.5: medium
0.8: large
nuances
- effect sizes don’t have implications for any one individual–they’re a population wide measure
- more differences are small, so statistics shouldn’t be used to exaggerate the differences between sexes
compare and contrast the maximalist and minimalist views toward the study of sex differences
- maximalist: SEX DIFFERENCES IMPORTANT–even if differences are small, they add up over time
- minimalist: sex differences are unimportant, and even when they do exist, the effect size is so small that it has no real impact
describe the gender similarity hypothesis
- males and females are similar on most, but not all, psychological variables
what are the sex differences on nurturance?
- sex differences show women with a higher tendency towards nurtuance
- females across cultures consistently score higher on all aspects of agreeableness
- also score higher on warmth (extraversion) and empathy
what are the sex differences on aggressiveness? what does this mean, in terms of other personality traits?
- men show higher aggression, which equates to lower agreeableness
- this is true across cultures
- men are also higher in the dark triad
what might be skewing the data on sex differences in aggression?
some outliers, where rando dudes are HYPER AGGRESSIVE
compare and contrast overt and relational aggression, with respect to the trait and its sex differences
overt aggression
- obvious
- often-physical aggressive behaviours
- more common in men
relational aggression
- less obvious
- more about exclusion and gossip, imagine mean girl in high school
- more common in women
what are the sex differences on emotionality? what might be causing these differences?
- women tend to report experiencing both more negative AND positive emotions
- at greater frequency AND intensity, even early in life
- after puberty, females show depression 2-3X more
- females also ruminate more, which contributes to depression
- might be that there’s a sex difference in the willingness to express and report emotions
what are the sex differences in self-esteem, and how does it change across a lifespan?
- before adolescence: same across sexes
- after puberty: men higher than women
- throughout adulthood: men higher than women, but the gap lessens as people grow older
how do self-esteem and cultural orientation interact, with respect to sex differences?
- collectivistic culture: less sex differences
- individualistic and egalitarian cultures: more pronounced sex differences
what were the original definitions for masculinity and feminity, along with their updated ones?
OG
- masculinity: possession of psychological and physical attributes traditionally associated with men
- femininity: possession of psychological and physical attributes traditionally associated with women
UPDATED
- masculinity: instrumentality (Agency)
- Femininity: expressiveness (communion)