gender Flashcards
what is gender?
the psychological, social and cultural differences between boys/men and girls/women including attitudes, behaviours and social roles
what is sex ?
the biological differences males , females including chromosomes, hormones and anatomy.
what is sex- role stereotype ?
a set of beliefs that and preconceived ideas about what is expected or appropriate for men and women in a given society group.
what is androgyny?
displaying a balance of masculine and feminine characteristics in ones personality.
ladette
a ladette is a female who has a larger amount of masculine traits then feminine traits they may enjoy going out and drinking beer or playing football and rugby.
metrosexual
metrosexual describes a man who may be preoccupied with with grooming and appearance and who may be spending a significant amount of time and money on shopping
how do you measure androgyny ?
bem’s sex role inventory
what is bem’s sex role inventory ?
1974 sandra bem scale presents 20 characteristics that would be commonly identified as masculine and 20 that would be judged as feminine and a further 20 neutral traits.
participants would have to measure themselves on a 7 point rating scale.
the results could be masculine, feminine, undifferentiated and androgynous.
what are some feminine traits ?
affectionate
cheerful
childlike
compassionate
what are some masculine traits?
acts as a leader
aggressive
ambitious
analytical
what are some neutral traits ?
adaptable
conceited
conscientious
friendly
what are chromosomes ?
they are found in the nucleus of living cells and carrying information in the form of genes
the 23rd pair of chromosomes determines biological sex.
what are hormones ?
a biochemical substance that circulates in the blood but one effects target organs. they are produced in large quantities but disappear quickly
effects are powerful
what is testosterone ?
a hormone from androgen group that is produced mainly in the male testes- females have a small amount
associated with aggression
what is oestrogen ?
the primary female hormone, plays an important role in the menstrual cycle and reproductive system.
what is oxytocin?
a hormone which causes contraction of the uterus during labour and simulates lactation.
how many chromosomes do we have ?
46 chromosomes in 23 pairs - last one determining the sex
what is the chromosomal structure of a female ?
XX
what is the chromosomal structure of a male ?
XY
what does the sperm carry?
the sperm carries a gene called the sex determining region Y or SRY for short .
causes the testes to develop in the XY embryo.
what is Klinefelter’s syndrome?
a syndrome that effects males in which an individual genotype has an extra X chromosome ( in addition to the normal XY) characterised by a tall thin physique, small infertile testes and enlarged breasts
what is turners syndrome ?
a chromosomal disorder in which affected women only have one X chromosome causing developmental abnormalities and infertility.
what is atypical sex chromosome patterns ?
any sex chromosome pattern that deviates from the usual XX/ XY formation and which tends to be associated with a distinct patterns of physical and psychological symptoms
eg. turners syndrome and Klinefelter’s syndrome
what is Kohlberg’s theory ?
a cognitive developmental theory of gender is based on the idea that a child’s understanding of gender becomes more sophisticated with age.
what are the three stages of Kohlberg’s theory ?
gender identity
gender stability
gender constancy
what is gender identity ?
a child recognises that they are a boy or a girl and possess the ability to label others as such. in Kohlberg’s theory, gender identity is acquired around the age of two.
what is gender stability ?
gender stability happens around the age of four years old. where a child understands that their own gender is fixed and they will be a man or a women when they are older.
what is gender constancy ?
usually reached by age 6 or 7 years. a child realizes that gender remains the same over time and situations. they begin to identify with people of their own gender and start to behave in stereo typically gender appropriate ways.
what is gender schema theory ?
martin and halvertson created the gender schema theory in 1981 which closely resembled that of kohlbergs theory .
what is gender schema?
a set of organised beliefs and expectations related to gender that are derived from experience. such schema guide a persons understanding of their own gender and stereo-typically gender appropriate behavior in general
when is gender schema established?
according to martin and halverston once a child has established gender identity he or she will begin to search the environment for gender related information and therefore the gender schema will be developed
does gender schema determine behavior ?
for many children it is likely to be formed around stereotypes. such as boys play with trucks and girls play with dolls.
in group information is better remembered….
children tend to have a much better understanding of the schema that is appropriate for their gender which is consistent with the idea they therefore pay more attention to this information.
what is the pyschodynamic approach ?
freuds pyschodynamic theory - considers unusual an controversial ideas which have been applied to many parts of psychology including development of gender.
pre phallic children
feud - 1905 theory sees children through 5 stages of pyschosexual stages beginning with the oral stage and ending with genital stage. starting with Oedipus complex and Electra complex.
what is the Oedipus complex ?
phallic stage - boys develop incestuous feelings towards their mother.
harbor jealous hatred for their fathers who stands in the way of their mother.
the boy recognizes the father is more powerful then he is and that he may fear that he will be castrated by his father. leading to castration anxiety.
to resolve conflict he gives up his love for his mother but then begins to identify with his father.
what is the Electra complex?
Freud 1909 - suggested girls experience penis envy seeing themselves and their mother as being competition for their fathers love.
double resentment for their mother- first that they are in the way of their love for their father. and that the daughter believed that the mother castrated her and herself .
Carl Jung thought of the Electra complex as Freud said that the female species was a mystery to him.
what is identification ?
a desire to be associated with a particular person or group. because the person or the group possesses something that has desirable characteristics
what is internalization ?
an individual adopts the attitudes and / or behaviors of another
who is little Hans ?
freuds evidence of the existence of the Oedipus and the Electra complex is the case study for this. little Hans watched a horse collapse in the street. this collapsing of the horse, Freud suggested, what caused castration anxiety as Little Hans was afraid that the horse would bite him. Freud suggested that little Hans turned his fear from the horses onto his father and this is how the Oedipus complex arrived.
what is the social learning theory ?
a way of explaining behaviour that includes both direct and indirect reinforcement, combining learning theory within the role of cognitive factors.
what is direct reinforcement ? in the terms of gender
children are more likely to be reinforced or repeat the behaviour ( through praise / encouragement) for demonstrating behaviour that is stereotypically gender appropriate. eg boys being encouraged as being active, assertive and engage in rough and tumble play .
girls eg. playing with dolls, dressing as a princess ect.
what is indirect reinforcement ? in the terms of gender
if the consequences of someones else’s actions are favourable. ten that behaviour is more likely to be replicated and imitated by another child.
eg. if a mother put on makeup and got a compliment from their father then the daughter may try and put on makeup to be able to get the same type of treatment.
what is identification ?
identification is the process where a child attaches themself to a person who is seen to be ‘like me’ or to a person ‘i want to be’
what is modelling ?
modelling is the precise demonstration of behaviour that may be imitated by an observer. a mother may stereotypically demonstrate stereotypical feminine behaviour when cleaning the house or preparing dinner.
what is a meditational process?
attention
retention
motivation
motor reproduction
what is cross cultural research ?
Cross-cultural studies are research designs that compare human behaviors across two or more cultures.
what are the cultural differences (nurture) - 1935 Mead
the arapesh were gentle and responsive - similar to feminine traits.
the mundugumor were aggressive and hostile - similar to stereotype of masculine traits.
The tchambuli women were dominant and they organised village life.
what does the cultural differences of nurture suggest?
suggesting that there may not be a direct biological relationship between sex and gender and that gender roles may be culturally determined
what are the cultural similarities (buss 1995)
found consistent patterns in mate preference in 37 countries across the continent. in all cultures women sought wealth and resources men who could offer.
and men looked for women with youth and physical attractions.
Munro and Munro 1975 revealed that in most societies division of labors organised along gender lines.
what is the relation between media and gender roles?
media provides gender role models for who children may identify and want to imitate.
what does rigid stereotypes mean?
there is evidence that the media provides very clear gender stereotypes that are quite rigid. similar to a stud done by furn ham and farragher 2000 found that women were presented with domestic and family role whereas men were depicted within professional contexts.
what is self efficacy?
the media does more then confirm gender typical behavior. it may also be likely that you have more success by conforming to your gender stereotypical role.
what is gender dysphoria ?
this is used to describe when a person experiences discomfort or distress because their is a mix match between their sex assigned at birth and their gender identity.
what is the biological approach to gender dysphoria ?
biological approach suggests that gender dysphoria comes from within the brain structure in the bed of the nucleus of stria terminalis.(BST)
what is the brain sex theory ?
this area is larger in men then in women it is much smaller however in transgender women - kruijver 2000 this suggests that people with gender dysphoria have a BST which is the size of the gender that they identify with
what are the genetic factors in gender dysmorphia?
frederick coolidge 2002 - assessed 157 twin pairs (96MZ and 61 DZ) for evidence to gender dysmorphia.
research found 62% of the variance could be accounted for by genetic factors
inheritable evidence of gender dysmorphia
evidence for genetic explanation of gender dysmorphia..
compared 23 MZ twins with 21 DZ twins where one of each pair was diagnosed with gender dysmorphia
they found that nine (39%) of MZ twins were concordant for gender dysmorphia.
what is social constructivism ?
social constructivism is an argument that suggests that gender identity does not reflect underlying biological differences between people and instead these concepts are invented by societies.
what is the psychanalytical theory ?
ovesey and person 1973 emphasise social relationships within the family as the cause of gender dysphoria
they argue that gender dysphoria in males is caused by a boy experiencing extreme separation anxiety before gender identity has been established.
stroller 1973 reports that in interviews, GD (gender dysphoria ) biological males displayed overly close relationships with their mothers.
