gender Flashcards
sex role stereotypes
these tell us what is appropriate for male and female behaviour
learned from birth, related to cultural norms
implicit modelling, explicitly taught
androgyny
being masculine and feminine is psychologically more healthy (Ben)
BSRI- personality traits identified by 200 undergraduates; 20 masculine, 20 famine, 20 neutral adjectives
femininity and masculinity measured independently; total score shows masculine, feminine, androgynous or undifferentiated type
Bem’s gender schema theory - androgynous person has a different cognitive style, freer to choose behaviours
sex-role stereotypes and androgyny evaluation
support for parental influence - mothers choose gender-matched toys thus teaching sex-stereotypes (Smith and Lloyd)
androgyny and psychological health - masculinity scores negatively correlated with, e.g. depression and anxiety, femininity scores positively correlated except if score was high (Prakash et al)
real-world applications - some parents adopts gender-neutral child-rearing, still regarded as unhealthy by some
reliability (Bem) - test-retest high, split-half improved by removing socially undesirable item (e.g. gullible)
valdity - correlation may be due to self-esteem rather than androgyny, or due to response bias to select higher ratings (Liberman and Gaa), and adjectives may have low temporal validity (Hoffman and Borders)
the role of sex chromosomes
usually genetic sex determines external genitalia - all foetuses start off with female genitalia
genes determine genitalia and also which hormones, in turn leads to gender behaviours
atypical sex chromosomes - Klinefelter’s syndrome (XXY), low levels of testosterone mean less body hair and infertility, taller than average, less muscular co-ordination
turner’s syndrome (XO) - underdeveloped ovaries, short stature, no monthly period, may have other unusual physical characteristics, e.g. small lower jaw
the role of hormone
hormone govern gender development
testosterone effects- XYs insensitive to testosterone and then born with no penis (classed as females) and in XXs exposed prenatally to testosterone who show masculine behaviour (Berenbaum and Bailey)
oestrogen - not required to direct prenatal genital development, may lead to smaller brain size (She et al) important for female secondary sexual characteristics, e.g. breast development
oxytocin - contentment and bonding, released when breastfeeding and at orgasm, moderates stress response (tend and befriend, Taylor et al)
the role of chromosomes and hormones in sex and gender
biological determinism - money’s sex-of-rearing view important but evidence shows genetic sex most significant (case studies: David Reimer and males born with no penis - Reiner and Gearhart)
importance of other factors- no simple formula, e.g. CAH individuals are XX but exposed to male hormones, many content with gender assigned at birth
role of culture - baristas (imperato- McGinley et al) boys sex-typed as girls but adjusted to make role when male genitalia appeared because culture had more fluid notion of gender and also because of the increased testosterone levels
real-world applications - avoid early surgery (intersex society), give hormone supplements, e.g. for turners syndrome
effects of hormones on brain development: female monkeys showed more rough-and-tumble play when exposed to testosterone (Quadagno et al.) but Eisenegger et al showed expectations might might explain human behaviour better
Kohlberg’s theory
cognitive-developmental - emphasises the role of thinking in development
development occurs in stages due to changes in biological maturity
stage 1: gender labelling (about 2-3 years) - gender based on appearance, can change if appearance changes, linked to Piaget’s pre-operational thinking (conservation)
stage 2: gender stability (about 4-5 years) - gender stays same over time, children lack ability to conserve and still swayed by appearance, e.g. dress worn, even if genitals showing (McConaghy)
stage 3: gender constancy (about 6 years) - gender constancy across time and situations, now ready to learn gender-appropriate stereotypes
gender schema theory
Martin and Halverson’s theory differs from Kohlberg’s: (1) information about gender-appropriate behaviour acquired before gender constancy, (2) describes how schemas are processed
gender schemas organise and structure information presented to children, form naïve theories
gender in-group schemaa acquired because child identifies with group and actively seeks information about ingroup
desire to negatively evaluate outgrip to strengthen positive feeling of belonging to ingroup (increased self-esteem)
gender attitudes resilient because affect what children perceive and what they remember
peers have strong influence - children seek same-sex friendships because ‘like me’, avoid teasing for behaving like opposite sex
Kohlberg’s theory evaluation
research evidence - gender labelling (Thompson, gender identification improves by 3 years), gender stability (Slaby and Frey, high scores on stability/constancy correlated with interest in gender-appropriate models)
methodological criticisms - children judge using appearance because not salient cue (Bem), children answering in ‘pretend’ mode (Martin and Halverson)
age differences - gender constancy may appear at age 5, possibly related to availability of gender information in media (Slaby and Frey)
gender differences - boys show gender constancy earlier, explained by social learning theory (male models more powerful), needs to be incorporated into Kohlberg’s theory
gender constancy not required for learning gender behaviour - learned earlier than predicted (Martin and Little), as predicted by gender constancy theory.
gender schema theory evaluation
gender schema without constancy - children age 4 acquired schema, supports GST (Martin and Little)
gender identity even earlier - Zosuls et al. found gender identity at 19 months, and Bandura and Bussey argue gender concepts acquired even before this
gender schemas organise memory - gender-consistent pictures recalled best (Martin and Halverson, Bradbard et al)
gender schemas may distort information - children misremember inconsistent information, maintains ingroup stereotypes (Martin and Halverson)
resilience of gender stereotypes - children of working mothers have less fixed stereotypes so can change, but generally exposure to counter-stereotypes not effective (Hoffman), so children need direct experience
psychodynamic explanation of gender devleopment
frueds psychoanalytic theory personality development - ego represses anxiety-provoking thoughts to unconscious mind
psychosexual stages - libido attached to body parts, 3rd stage is phallic stage (age 3-6), libido attached to genitals, gender development occurs
in both genders attraction to opposite sex parent resolved when child identifies with same-sex parent and internalises gender identity and gender concepts
Oedipus complex in boys - attraction to mother leads to wish that father was dead, guilt leads to repression, eventual resolution through identity with father
Electra complex in girls (Jung) - disenchantment with mother due to lack of penis and penis envy, resolved through desire to have a baby
unresolved phallic stage leads to fixation, phallic character not capable of close love, may be associated with amoral behaviour and homosexuality
social learning theory
social learning theory emphasises learning from others (social) who model and reinforce gender behaviours (bandora)
indirect (vicarious) reinforcement - children learn consequences of behaviour through observation but only imitate people with whom they identify (same-sex models)
meditational processes - cognitive theory because expectancies of future outcomes determine likelihood of imitation
maintenance through direct reinforcement - children may learn gender-inappropriate behaviour but are punished for imitating it
direct tuition - once children acquire language, people (e.g. parents) can explicitly tell them what to do and no do
self-direction - once gender-appropriate behaviours internalised, a child can direct own behaviour
psychodynamic explanation of gender development evaluation
support from case studies - little Hans wanted his mother and repressed fears of castration until he came to identify with his father. levin reported link between bipolar patients and electra complex
child sexual awareness - children aged 4 not aware of genitals (Bem). however, Okami et al did find link between early sexual awareness and later sexual activity
lacks predictive validity - children from one parent or same-sex families should have difficulty with gender development but they don’t (e.g. Patterson)
alternative psychodynamic explanations - chodorow focused on mothers only, closeness with daughters (supported by Goldberg and lewis) and greater independence for sones
reinterpretation - Lacan suggested penis envy symbolised male power, so we can therefore make sense of Freuds meaning
social learning theory evaluation
evidence to support modelling - children imitate behaviour of same-sex models but not if counter-stereotypical (Perry and Bussey)
direct tuition may be more effective than modelling - children played with toys labelled for their sex even if same-sex child observed playing with opposite-sex toy (Martin et al)
peers not gender influences- either too young to be relating to peers or peers simply reinforce existing stereotypes (Lamb and Roopnarine)
self-direction - younger children disapproved of others engaging in gender-inappropate play but not themselves, older children disapproved of themselves too (Bussey and Bandora)
too much emphasis on social processes - cross-cultural research shows universals in gender behaviour, e.g. what men and women desire in a partner is similar (Buss)
cultural influence
from parents, peers and related to social learning theory
women more conformist than men in tight, sedentary societies (Berry et al)
women’s roles changing, women still do more domestic duties but cultural attitudes changing
mead’s research in Papua New Guinea showed cultural role differences, e.g. Mundugumor men and women both aggressive
