gender

Question 1

what is sex?

Answer 1

-concerns whether people are biologically male or female

Question 2

what is gender?

Answer 2

-concerns the social and psychological characteristics that relate to males and females

Question 3

supporting evidence for sex-role stereotypes?

Answer 3

-Langois and downs, compared peers and mothers reaction to pre-schoolers play with opposite gender toys. when boys played with girls toys, mothers accepted this but male peers ridiculed and even hit them, demonstrates the intolerance of male peers of cross gendered behaviour and as a result their influence on establishing gender roles.

Question 4

evaluation of sex-role stereotypes?

Answer 4

-sex-role stereotypes differ culturally suggests that the characteristics associated with sex roles are culturally transmitted, implies that environmental learning is stronger than bio forces in determining stereotypes.
-evidence suggests that sex-role stereotypes are mainly learned through environmental experience, implies that negative stereotypes could be adressed by providing learning experiences for all children that reinforce the idea of equal social roles for men and women.
-may provide restrictive barriers on children for jobs or for families

Question 5

what did Bem do?

Answer 5

-challenged the idea of tradition femininity and masculinity by adding androgynous to the mix trait wise.
-designed the Bem sex role inventory by 60 items rated on a 7 point scale.
-used this and found that 34% of males and 27% of females are androgynous, supporting the idea that there is more than just masculine and feminine.

Question 6

what is the role of testosterone?

Answer 6

-first 6-8 weeks males and females are the same
-after the 8th week the gene on the 23rd chromosome instructs the glands in the embryo to release hormones, like testosterone which suppresses the female reproductive system.

Question 7

what is testosterone?

Answer 7

-hormone that is linked to masculinisation of the brain and male behaviours like competitiveness and agressiveness

Question 8

what did Hines do?

Answer 8

-studied female babies born to mothers who had been given injections of male hormones during pregnancy to prevent miscarriage. they were found to be more aggressive then normal female children.

Question 9

what did Dr Money study?

Answer 9

-David Reimer
-twin Bruce suffered damage to his penis and it was decided by Dr Money to raise him as a girl.
-however this failed as at 16 said he felt like a man.

Question 10

what is oestrogen?

Answer 10

-promotes development and maintenance of female characteristics and regulate menstration.

Question 11

evidence for oestrogen?

Answer 11

-Pepe found that increasing Oestrogen levels in pregnant baboons led to heightened cortisol production which assisted the development of organs and tissues in foetuses and led to reduced levels of miscarriage by regulating progesterone levels.

Question 12

what is oxytocin?

Answer 12

-is a hormone which acts as a neurotransmitter and is produced in both sexes.
-helps facilitate childbirth through stimulating contractions and reduces the effects of cortisol.

Question 13

study for cortisol?

Answer 13

-white-traut et al measured oxytocin levels in saliva production before during and after breastfeeding.
-levels were highest immediately before feeding decreased after and rose, 30 minutes after.

Question 14

what is Kleinfelter’s syndrome?

Answer 14

-occurs in 1 in 750 males, due to an extra X chromosome which occurs during meiosis.
-males have small testes, and have insufficient levels of testosterone.
-lack the ability to grow facial hair, develop breast tissue and have low fertility level

Question 15

what is turner syndrome?

Answer 15

-genetic condition that effects 1 in 2200 females and involves having only one complete X chromosome in each cell.
-many issue is non-functioning ovaries, girls not developing breasts during puberty, no periods and infertility.

Question 16

what did Kohlberg suggest for gender development?

Answer 16

-all children must develop in the same way through the same stages.

Question 17

what are kohlbergs three stages for gender development?

Answer 17

-stage 1, age 3, basic gender identity, children have an awareness of own sex but believes it can change.
-stage 2, age 4-5, gender stability, awareness that their sex is stable over time but not over situations.
-stage 3, age 6-7, gender constancy, realise that sex stays the same regardless of time or situation

Question 18

supporting evidence for Kohlbergs stages?

Answer 18

-Slaby and Frey, research into asking children about gender children aged 2 were asked genders of photos of children.
-then asked ‘were you a little boy or girl when you were a baby? will you grow up to be a mummy or daddy?’ children couldn’t answer correctly until 3-4

Question 19

evaluation of Kohlberg’s stages?

Answer 19

-there is some disagreement over the age of the different stages.

Question 20

what is the gender schema theory?

Answer 20

-rigid early gender identity is acquired at 3
-children then search for schemas in the environment.

Question 21

support for Gender schema theory?

Answer 21

-Martin, showed toys to children 4-5 and the toys were labelled beforehand as boys or girls toys.
-the labelling of the toy effected the choosing.

Question 22

evaluation of the gender schema theory?

Answer 22

-overemphasis of the role of the individual in gender development and does not pay enough to social factors like parenting.
-ignores the role of reward and punishment
-emphasis how schemas develop but not why

Question 23

what did freud believe about gender development?

Answer 23

-Oedipus complex, during the phallic stage boys develop sexual desires for their mother and jealous of father. afraid of father and therefore give up love for mother and identify with farther and therefore gender identity is formed at phallic stage at 3-6.
-Electra complex, girls experience penis envy and resent their mother for loving their father. eventually girls put the desire into having children and identify with their mother.

Question 24

how does SLT believe that gender develops?

Answer 24

-learned from the environment through observational learning.
-children pay attention, encode this into their behaviour and then may imitate, this is more likely to happen with similar people and how the people react to the model they are watching relates to wether the child immitates.
-ARMM.

Question 25

evidence for SLT?

Answer 25

-Smith and Lloyd
-4-6 month old babies were dressed half the time in boys clothes and half in girls
-when in both sets boys were reinforced for being adventurous and girls for being passive.

Question 26

what did Fagot study?

Answer 26

-compared 27 egalitarian families with 42 traditional to measure parenting styles and childrens later gender roles.
-interviewed the parents when child was 18months old and observed them play with the toddler at 28 and 48 months.
-4 given gender labelling tasks, trad families tended to use gender labels earlier and showed more gender role stereotyping.

Question 27

evaluation for SLT explaining gender development?

Answer 27

-argue that SLT does not provide an adequate explanation of how learning process changes with age.
-suggests children won’t be able to perform certain procedures if they are not able to copy adults.
-general implication is that modelling of gender can occur at any age.

Question 28

evidence for culture influence behaviour?

Answer 28

• Mead studied gender behaviour in tribes in Papua new Guinea finding some gender differences between them.
  -Arapesh, kept it fresh were gentle and responsive.
  -Mundungumor, more hostile and agressive.
  -Tchambuli, women bully the men.
  -shows that gender is shaped by culture and upbringing.

Question 29

support for the media influencing gender development?

Answer 29

-Hodges, found that men are more likely to be portrayed as being in control, while women are at the mercy of others.
-McGhee, found that children who are exposed to such models display far more stereotyped behaviour.

Question 30

evaluation for media on gender development?

Answer 30

-difficult to establish cause and effect and has considerable influence on maintenance but does media create or simply reflect them.
-hard to find control groups to compare to who are not exposed to media.

Question 31

what is gender dysphoria?

Answer 31

-condition where a person experiences discomfort or distress because there is a mismatch between biological sex and gender identity.

Question 32

what is the bio explanation for gender dysphoria?

Answer 32

-occasionally the hormones that trigger the development of biological sex may not work properly on the brain, reproductive organs and genitals, causing the differences between them caused by:
-additional hormones in the mothers system
-foetus’ insensitivity to hormones, gender dysphoria may be due to hormones not working properly in the womb.
-also be due to congenital adrenal hyperplasia and intersex conditions.

Question 33

what is congenital hyperplasia?

Answer 33

-high level of male hormones are produced in a female foetus. can cause the genitals to become more male in appearance and in some cases the baby may be thought to be biologically male when she is born.

Question 34

supporting evidence for biological explanation for gender dysphoria?

Answer 34

-Hare et al, found a significant correlation between gender dysphoria and variants of the gene that triggers the release of testosterone, when examining gene samples from male gender-dysphorics and non-dysphorics. findings overall found that dysphoria is linked to genes playing a factos.

Question 35

evaluation for bio explanations for gender dysphoria?

Answer 35

-Green studied 44 boys referred to a clinic for strong feminine behaviour compared them to 30 boys in an age matched control group. follow up at age 18 found that only 1 had remained gender dysphoric and opted for reasignment. Androcentric, but done with females.
-Dhummond, 30 girls referred to a gender identity clinic 2-3 suggests that at 18 current gender identity 88% did not show signs of gender dysphoria.

Question 36

what is the social explanation for gender dysphoria?

Answer 36

-gender dysphoria is learnt, by operant conditioning where individuals are reinforced for exhibiting cross-gender behaviour.
-stroller proposed that gender dysphoria results from distorted parental attitudes.

Question 37

supporting evidence for Klinefelters and turners syndrome?

Answer 37

-Simpson, behavioural and language difficulties resulting from having KS could be successfully treated with androgen therapy like testosterone supplements.
-Quigley, gave 123 girls with TS either oestrogen supplements or a placebo. no difference in physical development before 8, after this those given Oestrogen had greater breast development.