gender

Question 1

define sex

Answer 1

persons biological status determined by chromosomes (women-XX and men-XY)

Question 2

define gender

Answer 2

persons psychological status which includes attitudes, roles and behaviours

Question 3

define sex role stereotypes

Answer 3

a set of shared beliefs and preconceived expectations that people within society hold

Question 4

features of sex role stereotypes

Answer 4

• reinforced through parents, peers, school and the media
• taught very early on through the toys given to children
• the media play a role in maintaining these expectations but can also be used to break them
• some stereotypes are partially valid as they have biological evidence e.g oxytocin in women making them more nurturing

Question 5

research evidence for sex role stereotypes

Answer 5

• farnham and farragher carried out study on how men and women were portrayed in adverts and found that men were found in more autonomous roles compared to women in domestic settings
• seavey et al told different participants that a 3 month old was either boy, girl or no gender
  => found that if they were told the baby was a girl, they played with a doll compared to a plastic ring if told it was a boy
  => the female participants interacted more than males when no gender was given
  => if given no label, gender was often assumed through physical features
• rubin et al asked parents to describe their baby after 24 hours and boys were “strong” compared to girls being “soft” and “delicate”
• ingalhaliar et al found women had better connections between left and right hemisphere

Question 6

define androgyny

Answer 6

personality type that is characterised by possessing a balanced combination of masculine and feminine traits, or high levels of both

Question 7

features of androgyny

Answer 7

• bem argued that high androgyny is associated with psychological well being because people should feel free to adopt a variety of masculine and feminine type behaviours
• androgynous people are more flexible and are better equipped to adapt to situations

Question 8

features of Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI)

Answer 8

• psychological test to measure androgyny
• 100 american undergraduates were asking which personality traits they thought were desirable for men and women
• 20 neutral items as distractors
• each person rates themselves on a 7 point likert scale
• a 4th category was added which is a type of androgyny with low masculine and feminine scores (undifferentiated)

Question 9

evaluation of BSRI strengths

Answer 9

• high test rates reliability correlation from .76 to .94

Question 10

evaluation of BSRI weaknesses

Answer 10

• self report method therefore has social desirability bias, which lacks internal validity
• responses bias as a study shows those classes as androgynous had higher overall scores which may be due to tendency to select answers at higher end- artefact of the measurement
• lacks temporal validity as adjectives were selected in 1970s, where recent study found that undergraduate chose only two terms to be endorsed as masculine or feminine
• culture bias
• subjective

Question 11

evaluation of androgyny

Answer 11

+ research evidence where prakash et al tested 100 married females in India in their masculinity/femininity using the personal attribute scale, and found high masculine and feminine scores had lower depression scores but those with high feminine had higher depression scores- psycho protective effect
+ real world application as it encourages parents to raise their children with characteristics of either gender

Question 12

how do chromosomes influenc gender

Answer 12

• determine biological sex by 23rd chromosome
• male XX female XY
• SRY gene in Y chromosome controls whether gonads become ovaries or testes
• at 6 weeks, this is when the Y chromosome can activate to develop testes and as a result produce testosterone

Question 13

role of testosterone in influencing gender

Answer 13

• testosterone surfers in boys to help develop male sex organs early on
• acts on hypothalamus to develop to masculinise the brain- development of areas linked to spatial tasks
• also linked to male type behaviours like aggressiveness and competitiveness
• sexual dimorphic nucleus bigger in males

Question 14

role of oestrogen in influencing gender

Answer 14

• lead to smaller brain size
• puberty
• PMS- emotionality, irritability
• directs the menstrual cycle
• diminishing of oestrogen leads to menopause
• feminisation of the brain- more interconnections between hemispheres
• female type behaviours like sensitivity and cooperation

Question 15

role of oxytocin in influencing gender

Answer 15

• produced in pituitary gland
• evokes feelings of contentment and calmness
• greater in females as it synergises with oestrogen, and can help with childbirth and breastfeeding
• increases during sex
• affects female social behaviour- nesting, monogamy, bonding, nurturing
• can dampen fight or flight and instead trigger “tend and befriend” to protect their young (taylor et al)

Question 16

evaluation of biological approach on gender strengths

Answer 16

+ real world application as it dissuades intersex people undergoing surgery without their permission, and instead be assigned a gender
+ effect of testosterone on brain development in female monkeys showed they engaged in more rough play

Question 17

evaluation of biological approach on gender weaknesses

Answer 17

-biological factors may not have a key role as David Reiner was intersex, but still showed a strong male identity despite being raised as a girl
=> studied 16 genetic males born with no penis and two raised as males remained males, but 14 raised as females found 8 reassigned themselves
- importance of other factors like personal qualities and socialisation
- culture has important role as Bastia family had 4 children with external female genitalia despite having large amounts of testosterone which caused one is to grow
=> accepted into their new male role which showed importance of acceptance in community
- socially sensitive as it can reinforce sex role stereotypes, for example PMS is arguable a social construct that medicalises female anger

Question 18

features of klinefelters syndrome

Answer 18

• XXY chromosome
• small testes that produce insufficient amounts of testosterone- inability to grow facial hair, breast development, long limbs, broader hips
• clumsy
• infertile
• susceptible to health problems commonly found in females like breast cancer
• poorly developed language skills- dyslexia
• shy and lack interest in sexual activity
• good spatial awareness
• easily upset and depressed

Question 19

features of turner’s syndrome

Answer 19

-XO chromosome as second X chromosome is either missing or incomplete
- do not have menstrual cycle and are infertile as ovaries fail to develop
- prepubescent appearance- broad chest, narrow hips, no breasts
- low set ears, short webbed neck, shorter
- higher reading ability- spatial visual memory and maths is ooor
- socially immature
- difficulty fitting in

Question 20

evaluation of atypical sex chromosome patterns strengths

Answer 20

• help to understand nature-nurture debate by comparing people with these conditions to see psychological and behavioural differences
• real world application to help early diagnosis and treated treatment- testosterone replacement therapy, growth hormone injections, oestrogen replacement

Question 21

evaluation of atypical sex chromosome pattern weakness

Answer 21

• taken from unrepresentative sample so lacks population validity as only 1/3 of people with klineflters are aware
• environmental and social influence may be more responsible for behavioural differences, like those with Turner syndrome being treated immaturely and therefore acting in that way
• biological determinism