Gender Flashcards
Introduction to Gender; Sex-Role Stereotypes; Androgyny and BSRI; Chromosomes and Hormones; Atypical Sex Chromosome Patterns; Kohlberg's Theory; Gender Schema Theory, Psychodynamic Explanation; Social Learning Theory; Culture and Media; Atypical Gender Development
What is sex?
Biological aspects of an individual as determined by their anatomy, produced by their chromosomes, hormones and interactions
What is sex generally?
Male or female
When is sex assigned?
At birth
What is gender?
A social construction relating to behaviours and attributes based on labels of masculinity and femininity
What is gender identity?
Personal, internal perception of oneself and so the gender category someone identifies with may not match the sex they assigned at birth
Where an individual may see themselves as a man, woman, non-binary or on the spectrum
What are sex-role stereotypes?
Set of ideas about behaviours/traits/qualities/characteristics that are expected for males and females
Who are sex-role stereotypes usually shared by?
Members of a culture/society
What do sex-role stereotypes act as?
Short-cut to expected behaviours in a given context
Boys and girls will behave in ways they understand to be typically male/female
How are sex-role stereotypes developed?
SLT: through observation, imitation and reinforcement
Kohlberg: through development of cognitive awareness of gender (development of gender constancy)
Freud: as part of the process of internalisation
What are some examples of stereotypes?
Males: breadwinners, strong, aggressive
Females: meek, stay-at-home
Boys like blue, girls like pink
Strength of sex-role stereotypes - cognitive short-cut
Sex-role stereotypes give you an idea of what you should be doing in certain situations
Limitation of sex-role stereotypes - Smith and Lloyd
Swapped boys and girls clothing and used other names
Participants unknowingly gave boys “girl’s toys” and girls “boy’s toys”
The toys played with can cause physical changes to the brain
Evaluation for sex-role stereotypes
Temporal validity
Negative effects of stereotypes (academic/career expectations)
Positive effects of stereotypes (act as a cognitive short-cut)
Relative influences of learning and biology on gender; cultural differences
Wider discussion in relation to determinism
What is androgyny?
Either biologically male or female who has an equally high level of masculine and feminine traits
What does BSRI stand for?
Bem Sex Role Inventory
What is the BSRI?
10 American undergraduate students were asked which personality traits they thought were desirable for men and women
Questionnaire includes 20 masculine, feminine and neutral traits each
Rate on a Likert scale from 1-7
Scores correlate to high masculine, high feminine, androgyny and undifferentiated
What are the ethical issues with BSRI?
Protection from harm: upset with results that they get
How can the ethical issues with the BSRI be dealt with?
Telling participants results are normal and the positives of their attributes
What is the threat to external validity in the BSRI?
Temporal validity
Population validity
What is the threat to internal validity in the BSRI?
Didn’t measure masculine/feminine, it measured self-esteem or confidence
How did the BSRI attempt to reduce the threat to internal validity?
Added distractor questions
Limitation of BSRI - self report
Social desirability bias
Demand characteristics
Limitation of BSRI - temporal validity
Hoffman and Borders 2001
Little agreement of masculine and feminine traits by 400 students
Strength of BSRI - reliability
External: test-retest over 4 weeks 0.74-0.96
Internal: a short 30 questionnaire is 0.9 correlation which shows good internal reliability
Limitation of BSRI - Spence et al
Fourth category was needed to distinguish between high male/female scores and low female/male scores
How many chromosomes are there in the body?
46 chromosomes, 23 pairs
What chromosome does a typical egg have?
X
What chromosome do the sperm carry?
Half carry X
Half carry Y
Is it the egg or the sperm that determines the baby’s sex?
Sperm
What does SRY stand for?
Sex Determining Region Y
What carries the SRY?
Y chromosome
What does the SRY do?
Causes the testes to develop and produce androgens
What are androgens?
Male sex hormones
What is the female chromosomal structure?
XX
What is the male chromosomal structure?
XY
What are the three specification hormones?
Testosterone
Oestrogen
Oxytocin
What does testosterone do prenatally?
Can affect brain development (right hemisphere)
What does testosterone do postnatally?
Grow facial hair
Deeper voice
What does oestrogen do prenatally?
Smaller brain size (left hemisphere)
What does oestrogen do postnatally?
Menstrual cycle
Mood swings
What does oxytocin do in women?
Breastfeeding
Fight or flight response
What does oxytocin do in men?
Fight or flight response
But suppressed by testosterone
Strength of chromosomes and hormones - practical application
Differences in Sex Development (DSD) is a group of rare conditions, including genes, hormones and reproductive organs, including genitals
Means a person’s sex development is different to most other peoples
Sometimes the term Disorder of Sex Development is used as is Variations in Sex Characteristics (VSC) or Diverse Sex Development
Some adults and young people with DSD prefer to use the term intersex
Diagnosis and treatment
Limitation of chromosomes and hormones - Tricker et al
Gave 43 males an injection of testosterone or a placebo
No significant difference was found in aggression after 10 weeks
Used double-blind procedure, reducing experimenter bias and demand characteristics, increasing internal validity of experiment
Strength of chromosomes and hormones - Bruce/Brenda/David Reimer
Nature overpowered nurture
Bruce had surgery that resulted in penis being burnt off and being castrated
Brought up as a girl (Brenda)
Told that she was born as a biological male and chose to transition back (David)
Limitation of chromosomes and hormones - counterpoint to David Reimer study - case studies
Cannot generalise to whole population
What is the chromosomal structure of Klinefelter’s Syndrome?
XXY
What is the diagnosis rate for Klinefelter’s Syndrome?
1 in 600 males
What are the physical characteristics of Klinefelter’s Syndrome?
Reduced body hair
Some breast development
Underdeveloped genitals
More susceptible to health problems (usually problems associated with females)
What are the psychological characteristics of Klinefelter’s Syndrome?
Poorly developed language skills and reading ability
Shy
Passive
Lacking interest in sexual activity
Tend not to respond well to stressful situations
Problems with executive functions (problem-solving)
What are the hormonal differences for Klinefelter’s Syndrome?
Higher levels of oestrogen
Lower levels of testosterone
What is the chromosomal structure of Turner’s Syndrome?
XO
What is the diagnosis rate of Turner’s Syndrome?
1 in 5000 females
What are the physical characteristics of Turner’s Syndrome?
No menstrual cycle
Broad “shield” chest and no developing of breasts
Low-set ears
“Webbed” neck
Hips not that much bigger than waist
Sterile
What are the psychological characteristics of Turner’s Syndrome?
Higher-than-average reading ability
Lower-than-average performance on spatial, visual memory and mathematical tasks
Socially immature
Limitation of atypical sex chromosome patterns - socially sensitive research
Individual’s expectations might be limited
Employers could discriminate against them
Minority group
Parents could feel guilty
Strength of atypical sex chromosome patterns - practical application
Treatments
Diagnosis
Limitation of atypical sex chromosome patterns - cause of psychological characteristics
Klinefelter - shy - could be low self-esteem and comparing to others
Turner - social immaturity - fertility issues/periods, lack maturity because not getting period at same time of others
Self-fulfilling prophecy
What does a universal theory mean?
The theory applies everywhere
What does maturational mean?
Complexity of thinking about gender develops as you get older
What is self-socialisation?
Process of how we learn stereotypes
What does Kohlberg’s Cognitive Theory state?
Focuses on how children’s thinking changes as they get older
Suggests cognitive changes with maturation are universal
Emphasises a stage approach to gender development?
What are the three stages of gender development according to Kohlberg’s Theory?
Gender identity
Gender stability
Gender consistency/constancy
When is the gender identity stage?
0-3 years
What happens in the gender identity stage?
Children are able to correctly identity themselves as male or female
Understanding of gender limited to labelling
No sense of permanence of gender
When is the gender stability stage?
4-5 years
What happens in the gender stability phase?
Children realise they will stay the same gender
Can’t apply gender logic to other people and other situations
When is the gender consistency/constancy stage?
6-12 years
What happens in the gender consistency/constancy stage?
Understand that other people’s gender is consistent even if they dress differently (across time and situation)
What stage does self-socialisation (creating schemas) occur in?
Gender consistency/constancy
Strength of gender stability - Slaby and Frey questions
Were you a boy or a girl when you were a baby?
When you grow up will you be a mummy or a daddy?
Only children aged 3-4 could answer these questions correctly
Strength of gender constancy - Slaby and Frey split-screen
Made children watch a split screen with one side showing a female doing stereotypical activities and the other side showing a male doing stereotypical activities
Children who were categorised as high constancy watched their “model” whereas low constancy children watched both models
Strength of gender identity - Thompson
Are you a boy or a girl?
76% correct at age 2
90% correct at age 3
As children mature, they have a better understanding of gender identity
Limitation of Kohlberg’s theory - interviewing children
Less vocabulary
Demand characteristics
Inconsistent answers
What are schemas?
Mental packages of information of gender-appropriate behaviours based on experiences
According to GST, when are schemas fixed?
6 years old
According to GST, what happens to non-stereotypical information?
It is deleted or manipulated
When did Martin and Halverson (GST) believe self-socialisation/learning stereotypes happen)
During the gender identity stage
2-3 years old
When do ingroups schemas start?
Created first
2-3 years
What are ingroup schemas?
The group with which a person identifies
When do outgroup schemas start forming?
Age 8
What are outgroup schemas?
Refers to the groups which you believe are different to you
How does the child evaluate the ingroup and outgroup?
Positively evaluate ingroup, ensuring they are similar
Negatively evaluate outgroup, avoiding their behaviours
AO3 - Is GST nature of nurture?
Both but mainly nurture
AO3 - Is GST believe in free will or is it deterministic?
Deterministic
AO3 - Is there gender bias in the GST?
Beta bias: males and females develop gender schemas in the same way
However, boys are more stereotypical than girls
AO3 - Is there cultural bias in the GST?
Can explain cultural differences because people have different experiences to create their schemas
AO3 - Is the GST socially sensitive?
Not too bad
Strength of GST - Martin and Halverson
Children, under age 6, were shown photographs with either gender consistent or inconsistent behaviour
Asked to recall photos a week later
More gender consistent photos remembered better
Gender inconsistent photos manipulated
Limitation of GST - Hoffman
Children whose mothers work have less stereotypical views of what men do
Children are not entirely fixed in their view but are reception to some gender-inconsistent ideas
Fact that gender schemas lead to misremembering or distorting information has important implications for effects to reduce gender stereotypes
Strength of GST - Bradbard et al
4-9 year olds labelled gender neutral items as male or female
Children followed stereotypes and paid more attention to their ingroup items
One week later, recalled more information on their ingroup items
Strength of GST - Martin and Little
Children at age 4 did not reach gender stability or consistency
But could demonstrate stereotypically attitudes
What is identification in the psychodynamic explanation?
Children identity with the same sex parent
What is internalisation in the psychodynamic explanation?
Children copy/remember behaviours of the same sex parent
When do the Oedipus and Electra complex occur?
Phallic stage
What is the Oedipus complex?
Age 3-4, boys desire their mothers sole attention
Dad is rival, fears castration (castration anxiety) and wants to eliminate him
IDENTIFICATION with father leads to INTERNALISATION of male gender identity
Repression occurs and they don’t remember hating father
Displace desire for mother onto other women
What is the Electra complex?
Girl loves mum but gets penis envy and hates mum
Girl loves father
Displaces penis envy onto wanting a baby
IDENTIFIES with mum and INTERNALISES the female gender identity
How do the Oedipus and Electra complex relate to the psychosexual stages?
Gender identity and role acquired in phallic stage
Before this, child has no gender identity and sexual desires directed indiscriminately
In phallic stage, focus of libido moves to genitals and development of boys and girls diverge
Strength of psychodynamic - Little Hans
Freud said spend more time with dad
Little Hans identified with his father and internalised the male gender identity
Repression of castration anxiety
Limitation of psychodynamic - counterpoint to Little Hans - problems with case studies
Cannot generalise - individual differences
Lacks replicability
Can’t control variables
Limitation of psychodynamic - Green et al
Psychodynamic says child must grow up in a conventional nuclear family
Studied 37 children growing up in non-traditional nuclear families (transsexual or homosexual parents)
In all but one case, children developed “typical” gender identities and role behaviours
Limitation of psychodynamic - problems with psychodynamic approach
Lack of falsifiability
Lack of scientific evidence
Most based on unconscious mind so unable to scientifically test
Limitation of psychodynamic - Thompson
Are you a boy or a girl?
76% correct at 2
90% correct at 3
As children mature, they have a better understanding of gender identity
How does the SLT believe gender is learnt?
Through observing others
How are children encouraged to show gender-appropriate behaviour in SLT?
Through reinforcement
What are the two types of indirect reinforcement?
Vicarious reinforcement
Vicarious punishment
What is vicarious reinforcement?
If an individual’s/role model’s behaviour is rewarded, more likely to be imitated by child
What is vicarious punishment?
If an individual’s/role model’s behaviour is punished, less likely to be imitated by child
What are the mediational processes?
Attention
Retention
Motor reproduction
Motivation
What is direct reinforcement?
Children are reinforced for GENDER-APPROPRITAE behaviours
Boys praised for being active and punished for being passive
What is differential reinforcement?
Behaviour that girls and boys are praised for/reinforced with is different, which they then reproduce
Explains why boys and girls learn distinctly different GENDER BEHAVIOURS
Strength of SLT - model behaviour
Smith and Lloyd
Given a baby in blue/pink clothes
Parents handed the blue baby, engaged in “rough and tumble” play and gave them male toys (hammer)
Parents handed the pink baby, complimented the baby and gave them cuddly toys
Strength of SLT - modelling
Perry and Bushey
Displayed video of male/female eating fruit
Later given a choice of fruit
Copied what they’d seen earlier
Limitation of SLT - age
Bandura believes modelling gender-appropriate behaviour starts at birth
At birth, babies couldn’t have motor reproduction
Strength of SLT - Bobo doll study
Girls watched female role model and boys watched male role model
Imitation of same sex role models
Boys = higher physical violence
Girls = higher verbal violence
Counterpoint to SLT Bobo doll study
Can’t explain difference between the violence in boys and girls
Violence
How does media affect gender development?
Provides role models who children identity with and want to imitate
Typically portrays clear role models
Roles played by characters display rigid gender behaviour
Done through vicarious reinforcement
Strength of media influence - Williams
Showed TV for first time to a group of children
Two years later, they had become significantly more stereotyped
AO3 of media influence - Pingree
Girls = stereotyping reduced by non-stereotypical media
Boys = have a backlash and become more stereotypical
What is gender dysphoria?
Where there is an inconsistency/conflict/incongruence between one’s assigned gender, on the basis of external sexual characteristics and the expressed gender or psychological perception of self as male or female
What is Brain Sex Theory (BST) of gender dysphoria?
BSTc (area of the brain) is the size of the patient’s gender identity rather than biological sex
How much larger is a males BSTc?
40% larger
What size is a female with gender dysphoria’s BSTc?
40% larger, like males
Limitation of BST - hormone treatment
Zhou et al
Examined BSTc post-mortem and after transgender individuals had received hormones during gender reassignment treatment
Hormone treatment had changed the size of the BSTc
AO3 - counterpoint to hormone treatment
Post-mortems can’t establish cause and effect as can’t see the change
Strength of BST - validity
2010 study of 121 transgender people
38% realised they had gender variance by age 5
White matter differences could provide independent confirmation that such children might benefit from treatment to delay puberty
What is the psychoanalytical social influences explanation for gender dysphoria?
Males
Experiencing extreme separation anxiety before gender identity is established
Want to merge with their mother creating asymbolic fusion
What is the cognitive social influences explanation for gender dysphoria?
Liben and Bigler adapted GST to include gender identity disorder
Believe a child’s attitude is affected by the activities they enjoy
Adapt gender schema to include non-stereotypical information and show more flexible gender behaviour
Strength of psychoanalytical - Zucker et al
Studied 115 boys with concerns about their gender identity
64% also diagnosed with separation anxiety disorder
Rekers believes it’s the fathers absence that it’s more likely to create gender dysphoria
Limitation of cognitive - reductionism
Very little information about why a child may have interest in non-stereotypical activities and information
