Gender Flashcards
Sex versus Gender
Sex refers to biological differences between females and males
- Chromosomal, anatomical, hormona
Gender stereotypes
Shared beliefs about what is typically male and female
- Are not necessarily real
Gender role
Societal expectations about male and female behavior
- As societies change, gender roles change
Gender identity
Subjective view/experience of being male or female
- People might reject common gender roles, but still have a gender identity
Gender typing
- Process by which children acquire not only gender identity but also internalize gender roles in in their respective culture
Sexual orientation
Pattern of romantic or sexual attraction to opposite sex, same sex, or both sexes
Gender Differences
Small but reliable differences
1. Verbal ability
- Girls acquire language and verbal skills earlier than boys
- Receive higher scores on reading comprehension and speech fluency throughout childhood and adolescence
2. Visual/spatial abilities
- Boys are better to process and manipulate pictorial information
3. Mathematical abilities
- Beginning in adolescence boys show advantages in arithmetic reasoning
4. Aggression
- Boys are more physically and verbally aggressive than girls
- >Difference observable from age of 3-4 years
- Males are more often engaged in delinquent behaviour
Other Differences:
5. Activity level
- Boys are physically more active than girls
- Prefer more rough-and-tumble play
6. Developmental vulnerability
- Boys are more at risk for developing disorders
-> Reading disabilities, ADHD, conduct problems, autism
7. Emotionality
- Women report more intense emotions (positive and negative)
-> Exception: Anger
- Women express emotions more freely
-> However: Boys are more irritable shortly after birth than girls –> are more “emotional”
- Women are better in recognizing emotion expressions
8. Empathy
- Girls receive higher scores in empathy and sympathy than boys when using self-report measures (e.g., questionnaire)
- Observations do not yield gender differences
9. Self-esteem
- Small differences in childhood that increase during adolescence and persist throughout adulthood
No gender differences in:
Sociability, suggestibility, logical reasoning, analytical thinking, moral
judgment
Gender Differences: Occupational Choices
STASCAN
- Men = 75% women 25%: in STEM
- contrast (opposite) for: education, nursing, social work
Development of Gender Identity
Knowledge that one is either male or female develops quite early
- Around age of 2.5 to 3 years almost all children can label themselves correctly as boy or girl
Understanding that sex is stable over time develops around 4-5 years
- Boys become men, girls grow up to be women
About the same age: sex is considered unalterable across situations
- Even if you dress/act like a boy, you keep being a girl
- Even if you want to be a girl, you stay a boy
Development of Gender Typing
From age 3 on children start to engage in gender typing
- Identification of specific behaviors, preferences, attributes as typically male or female
Children from the age of 3 to 7-8 years
- Do not see differences in gender related attributes within each group
- Do not see that males and females share commonalities
- Treat being male and female as strict opposites
Younger children are quite sexist!
- Black and white, no middle ground
- Strictly obligatory, no exception from the rule allowed
- Intolerant, own gender attributes are considered positive
Reasons for strong stereotypes in younger children
- Discovery of gender identity makes gender a salient social category
- Children need to sort out what’s TYPICALLY male/female
- Children are not able to consider multiple classifications (Piaget)
-> A boy is a boy, not a human - Gender typing reflects social life of children: Strong gender segregation
-> Boys socialize with boys, girls with girls
–> Starts from age 2-3 and goes to puberty
-> Possible reason: Incompatibilities between boys’ and girls’ play style
With increasing age gender stereotypes become more flexible
- Result of cognitive maturity and more mixed gender experiences
Biological factors in gender differentiation
- Testes of male embryo produce androgens that stimulate development of male reproductive system and inhibit development of female organs
- Androgens stop brain from secreting hormones in cyclical pattern so that males do not experience menstrual cycles
Hormonal influences on psychological development
- Exposure to high levels of androgens in females during pregnancy –> androgenized females
-> Preferences for boys’ toys, play and activities
-> Better performance in tests of spatial abilities
- Higher levels of testosterone is related to aggressiveness
-> Testosterone causes higher levels of aggressiveness
-> Higher levels of aggressiveness lead to higher levels of testosterone
Gender Differences and Gender Typing: Social Factors
- Selective reinforcement
- Parents encourage gender appropriate behavior
- Parents discourage gender inappropriate behavior
-> Disapproval
-> Not paying attention
- Once children have acquired gender identities gender typing behavior is reinforced in peer group - Observational learning
- Children choose role models according to similarity
-> Same-sex models are more similar
- Imitate behaviors of same-sex adults
-> Parents, teachers, media - Imitation
- Children identify with same-sex parent, they want to be the same way
Sigmund Freud’s View
3- to 6-year old children have an incestuous desire for their mother (boys) or father (girls)
- Boys fear rivalry of father and develop castration anxiety (Oedipus complex)
- Girls do not experience the same type of conflict since they lack a penis and already feel castrated (Electra complex)
Boys identify with father to fulfill sexual desire in symbolic way
Girls try to please father and therefore adopt feminine role of mother
