gender Flashcards
psychology paper 3
what is sex?
persons biological status determined by chromosomes XX (female) XY (male)
what is gender?
persons psychological and cultural differences affected by what you have learned is masculine/feminine etc
what are sex role stereotypes?
shared expectations that people hold in society about what is masculine and what is feminine communicated through media schools etc
what was seaveys sex role stereotypes procedure?
- the aim was whether gender labels affects how adults respond to babies
- 3 month old baby in yellow baby suit
- 1/3 ppt were told baby was male other 1/3 ppt were told baby was female and other 1/3 werent given label
- ppt left to play with baby for 3 mins and in room was some toys a ball a doll and plastic ring
what was seaveys sex role stereotypes study findings?
- baby labelled female ppt more likely gave it to play with doll
- baby labelled male ppt more likely gave it the plastic ring
- when no gender given female ppt interacted with baby more the males
- in no label condition ppts decided themselves what babys sex was based off physical terms (hard grip is boy soft hands is girl etc)
- therefore adults interact differently with baby based off gender
what is androgyny?
a balance between male and female characteristics researcher says androgynous people better equiped to deal with life
how is androgyny measured using bems sex inventory?
- 60 different characteristics split into 3 groups
- 20 masculine 20 feminine 20 neutral
- respondants rated themselves out of 7 on each item
- scoring high on both male and female traits showed androgynous and low meant undifferentiated
what is the role of chromosomes in gender?
23 pairs of chromosome 23rd pair is sex genes egg always carry X chromosome and sperm X or Y
Y gene carrues SRY gene which causes release of androgens (male sex hormones) causes embryo to develop as a male without it embryo develops as a female
what is the role of hormones in gender?
hormones affect development of brain and reproductive organs after puberty hormones trigger secondary sexual characteristics. both sex release same hormones but in different concentrations
what is testosterone?
male hormones which develops male sex organs and affects brain developement + linked to aggression
what happens if a female is exposed to large amounts of testosterone in womb?
show greater interest in stereotypical male activities
what is oestrogen?
female hormones which develop female sex ograns and controls menstruation + linked to heightened emotion before menstrual cycle
what is oxytocin?
love hormone relased during birth or sexual activities facilitates bonding and stimulates lactation (allows mothers to breastfeed baby)
what are atypical sex chromosome patterns?
any pattern that deviates from typical XX or XY
what is klinefelters syndrome?
affects males who have chromosome pattern of XXY affects 1 in 500/1000
what are physical symtoms of klinefelters syndrome?
- reduced body hair
- breast development after puberty
- rounder/softer body shape
- gangly limbs
- coordination issues and clumsy
what are psychological symptoms of klinefelters syndrome?
- poor developed language skills and ready ability
- passive and shy
- dont cope well with stress and have memory problem solving difficulties
what is turners syndrome?
affects females who have chromosome pattern of XO (missing last chromosome) affects 1 in 5000
what are physical characteristics of turners syndrome?
- no mentsrual cycle
- sterile
- dont develop breasts (shield chest)
- webbed neck
- high waist to hip ratio
what are psychological characteristics of turners syndrome?
- higher reading ability
- lower performance on spatial and maths tasks
- socially immature
- difficulty fitting in
what is kohlbergs theory of gender development?
gender identity :
- around 2 child can correctly label themselves as boy/girls
- around 3 can identify others as boy/girl but dont know sex is permanent
gender stability :
- around 4 kids realise their gender identity will remain consistent over time
- cant apply to other people and get confused by external appearances
gender constancy :
- around 6 recognises gender is stable over time and constant across different situations for everyone
- this is when a child pays attention to gender appropiate behaviour and imitations of role models occur here
what is the gender schema theory?
- child establish gender identity (2-3 yrs)
- begins to search environment for info to develop gender schema
- cognitive system forms develops generalised representations of everything to do with gender and gender appropiate behaviour (toys clothes etc)
- schema expands to inc behaviours and personality traits
- for kids schemas form around stereotypes and by 6 have fixed stereotypical idea ab what is appropriate for their gender
what are ingroups and out groups in GST?
ingroup: own gender
outgroup: opposite gender
children have better understanding of what is appropriate to their ingroup and pay more attention to in rather than out group but by 8 develop schemas for both genders
what does frued say about gender development?
it occurs in phallic stage of psychosexual stages boys go through oedipus complex girls go through electra complex
what is Oedipus complex?
- boys desire their mums and at age 3 become aware of this/want her attention
- sees dad as rivals for mums love and want him dead
- have castration anxiety as fear dad will find out desire for their mum and retaliate
- resolves this by identifying with dad and internalise male role so can get married
what is the Electra complex?
- girls attracted to their mum and is disappointed when she has no penis
- girl blames mum for girl not having penis and believes she as castrated causing penis envy
- girls sexual desire transferred to father
- resolves this by turning penis envy into wanting a baby herself so identifies with mum and internalise female role
what is direct reinforcement in gender (SLT) ?
- children reinforced for displaying gender appropiate behaviours
- differential reinforcement
- causes child to learn their gender and what is acceptable to do
- kids likely to imitate behaviours which lead to rewards
what is indirect reinforcement (vicarious) in gender (SLT) ?
- kids see how role model acts and learn from consequences
eg girl sees mum wear makeup and get complimented so imitates it as she gets rewards
what is identification and modelling in gender (SLT) ?
- identification when child looks up to role model
- imitate behaviours of those we identify with
- so learn gender appropiate behaviour through social learning
- modelling is demonstration of behaviour shown by role model by child
what are mediational processes in gender (SLT) ?
we develop expectancy about future outcomes from our learning and only display the behaviour is expectation of reward greater than punishment
done through attention retention motivation motor reproduction
why is cross cultural research valuable?
helps work out balance between nature and nuture in explaining behaviour if gender role shown in all cultures it is more likely to be innate biological difference between genders
what was meads research into cultural differences ?
- studied tribes in papua new guinea and found cultural differences between groups
- arapesh men and women were kind/co operative
- mundugumor men and women were violet/ aggressive
- tchambuli shows men were emotionally dependent and women were dominant
- shows differences we see in gender are not universal
what are cultural similarities found by munroe and munroe?
in most cultures men are breadwinners and women are nuturers
how does media influence gender roles ?
provide role models for children to identify with and imitate children are likely to choose role models of sam gender
what evidence shows that media provide rigid stereotypes ?
- researchers found men were portrayed as independent/ambitious
- women depicted as dependent and unambitious
- further research shows that media showed men as self directed professionals while women took familial roles
what evidence shows that media provide self efficacy ?
- media helps men and women by showing successful they may be in adopting these behaviour
- researchers found in india after watching a tv detective programme found girls were more likely to feel able to work outside the home than non viewers
- shows that their self efficacy had changed due to media influence
