gender Flashcards

Question

SLT eval - supporting evidence BUT could be biological

Answer 1

supporting evidence: Smith and Lloyd dressed babies aged 4-6 months alternately in boys' and girls' clothes, irrespective of their actual sex boys = given hammer-shaped rattles and encouraged to be active girls = handed cuddly dolls and reinforced for being passive gender-appropriate behaviour is ingrained at an early age through differential reinforcement BUT differential reinforcement may not be the sole cause of gender differences in behaviour observation that boys are encouraged to be more active may be influenced by innate biological differences rather than social reinforcement. adults might be responding to pre-existing gender differences during interactions with their children, implying that boys are naturally more active due to hormonal factors SLT may only partially explain how children acquire gender behaviours - biological factors also play a role

Answer 2

does not explain how learning processes change with age SLT = gender-appropriate behaviour modelling occurs at any age But Kohlberg's theory = active gender development begins at gender constancy unrealistic to assume that two-year-olds and nine-year-olds learn gender concepts in the same way - developmental stages influence learning processes SLT overlooks the influence of age and maturation on gender concepts

Answer 3

explains cultural changes reduction in clear masculine or feminine traits in recent decades shifts in social expectations and cultural norms -> new forms of gender behaviour being reinforced rather than punished, unlike in the 1950s explains cultural changes in gender behaviour + complements cognitive explanations involving schema and stereotypes low temporal validity (old study)

Answer 4

Mead: cultural variations in Papua New Guinea Arapesh = gentle, Mundugumor = hostile, Tchambuli reversed gender stereotypes While Mead acknowledged universal gender-typical behaviours no biological relationship between sex and gender - affected by cultural norms Buss: cross-cultural mate preference patterns across 37 countries. men preferred youth and women preferred wealth cultural similarities supports nature

Answer 5

criticism of cross cultural research mead proved that gender roles vary significantly between cultures proves gender roles aren't universal BUT freemans follow up study has contradicting views mead criticised for ethnocentric viewpoint causing misunderstanding short period of study -> generalisations observer bias conclusions lack validity and objectivity could argue too much focus on cultural variations - ignored universal psychological processes contributing to gender formation

Answer 6

globalisation and increased access to diverse perspectives challenges cultural norms leads to more fluid representation of genders societies with rigid gender roles can be altered by other cultures influence eg: netherlands legalised LGBT marriage first leading to the slow introduction of LGBT acceptance across the world other perspectives can alter cultural views culture always changing

Answer 7

Bussey and Bandura: media representation influences self-efficacy, as observing gender-appropriate behaviour enhances belief in one's capability to perform similarly (child seeing others perform gender appropriate behaviour increases child's belief that they can do the same) Furnham and Farragher: study of TV adverts found mostly men in professional contexts and women in domestic settings reinforces rigid gender stereotypes, with men depicted as independent and ambitious, and women as dependent mitra et al found indian girls watching detective drama (Adha-full) were more likely to see themselves as capable of working outside the home compared to non-viewers (self efficacy had changed due to media's influence)

Answer 8

gender roles and media may not be a causal relationship: adverts and media reinforce rigid stereotypes but children are not passive recipients of media messages and that family norms play a more significant role possible that children who adopt rigid beliefs are more likely to watch those shows rather than the opposite some media reinforces diverse gender roles parents stereotypes might play a greater part research shows gender stereotyping in school girls decreased after watching adverts of women in non stereotypical environments

Answer 9

theoretical basis to research into media: cultivation theory - more time living in online world, more likely to believe this reflects real life society research found more time watching shows like jersey shore led to permissive attitudes towards casual sex BUT growing movement towards a more diverse and realistic representation in media to challenge stereotypes reduces risk of internalisation of stereotypes attitudes to gender are determined by media AND parental attitudes/personal experiences

Answer 10

Gender dysphoria = mismatch between biological sex and gender identity recognized as a psychological disorder in DSM-5 Biological explanations: krujiver Brain-sex theory: areas of the brain involved in gender development BST = dinophic so differs in men/women BST involved in emotional response + sexual behaviour in male rats BST = 2x larger in men than women suggests people with gender dysphoria have a BST the size of the gender they identify with - not of biological sex fits with report of transgender people saying they don't fit with their gender at a young age (BST female sized in transgender females) Genetic factors: comparison of 23 MZ and 21 DZ twins (one of each diagnosed with gender dysphoria) found 39% of MZ twins showed concordance for gender dysphoria none of DZ showed concordance suggests genetic factors influence gender dysphorias development (BUT MZ treated similarly so environmental factors similar - could explain concordance)

Answer 11

Social/psychological explanations: Social constructionism: gender identity = a societal invention Gender dysphoria arises when individuals are forced to conform to binary gender roles forced to choose male or female and stick with it McClintock illustrates cultural acceptance of gender variation in Sambia of New Guinea some people are accepted as females-then-males (men born with clitoris that descends into testes at puberty) more than 2 genders so reduced risk of gender dysphoria Psychoanalytic theory: Ovesey and Person - social experiences affect gender dysphoria extreme separation anxiety before gender identity in boys leads to a symbiotic relationship with the mother, resulting in a female gender identity (become the mother) research found an overly close mother son relationship in those suffering from gender dysphoria

Answer 12

contradictory evidence: size of the BST changed significantly during hormone treatment when studying transgender individuals' brains using MRI scans taken during hormone treatment kruijvers findings relied on post mortems which means BST size can be affected by hormone therapy taken for gender reassignment theory rather than the cause of gender dysphoria

Answer 13

there may be other brain differences associated with gender dysphoria: Rametti studied the white matter in the brains of transgender individuals before hormone treatment results show that the amount and distribution of white matter in transgender individuals corresponded more closely to their identified gender rather than their biological sex indicates early brain differences inherent brain differences in transgender individuals supports the idea that gender dysphoria has a neurological basis

Answer 14

social factors have a greater influence than biological: samoan people recognise more than 2 genders challenges traditional binary classifications increasing number of people identifying as non-binary highlight that cultural understanding of gender is evolving therefore biology cannot be influencing gender dysphorias development social construction rather than a purely biological fact + rare for dysphoria as a child to continue in adulthood (not genetic)

Answer 15

psychoanalytic theory = incomplete research: does not explain gender dysphoria in biological women (only transgender females) rekers found gender dysphoria in males is likely associated with absence of father rather than fear of separation of mother (or both could be holistically influencing development of dysphoria) inadequate in explaining the full scope of gender dysphoria

Answer 16

Slaby and Frey presented children with split screen images of males and females performing the same task Younger spent roughly the same amount of time watching both sexes. Children in the gender constancy stage spent longer looking at the model who was the same sex as them. This would suggest that Kohlberg was correct in his assumption that children will actively seek gender appropriate models.