gender

Question 1

what is meant by androgyny?

Answer 1

person who has both masculine and feminine traits

Question 2

Bem test?

Answer 2

where people rated themselves on scales for masculine and feminine traits between 1 and 7.

fem traits - compassionate, warmth, shyness
masc traits - aggression, ambition

shown to be valid when tested against person’s own perceived gender identity
tested a month later with similar results showing that it is valid and reliable.

demand characteristics? however the test was confidential so that reduces the likelihood

Question 3

bem test shows?

Answer 3

sex can be objectively defined by genes

gender is more open for interpretation

Question 4

is gender fixed or not?

Answer 4

transsexuals require hormone treatment so this suggests gender is fixed since they undergo gender reassignment?

Question 5

evidence for gender is flexible? (2 studies)

Answer 5

dominican republic boys
raised as girls before puberty.
at puberty, male genitals developed so they adopted a masculine gender identity
suggests gender can change and is flexible

however, this was a retrospective accounts so not as accurate, sample was small so cannot be generalised

Rekers et al, 3 year treatment programme to extinguish feminine behaviour out of an 8 year old boy
it worked / normal gender appropriation
reinforcing masculine traits - gender can be changed

Question 6

what is the nature argument

Answer 6

biological approach says gender is biological as sex and gender have many psychological traits
men are more masculine - aggression is good for competition?
females - caring? looking after young

Question 7

Buss - study?

Answer 7

men and women were asked about ideal traits in partners
men voted for youth, chastity etc
women voted for financial prospects etc

suggests men and women instinctively look for different traits in each other - evolutionary benefit e.g.
women carry the man’s baby and no one else’s? youth - fertile longer
men - provide for family

choices were preset so they were no able to offer up any other traits
westerner has different ideals to other countries
therefore findings are unreliable

Question 8

Cross cultural debate? (Mead study)

Answer 8

various tribes in new guinea for 6 months
arapesh tribe - both sexes were feminine
mundugamor - both sexes were mass
tchambuli tribe - genders were reversed

gender is not the same globally and depend on culture.
findings are subjective as she changed her mind after childbirth. failed to mention that males were still the most aggressive. exaggeration in arapesh and mundugamor tribes

Question 9

other studies challenging western assumptions of gender

Answer 9

sugihara and katsurada - japanese students had both highly feminine results on the bem test
roscoe - berdaches (third gender)

Question 10

what is sex role stereotyping?

Answer 10

beliefs, value and norms are generalised by influential groups such as family/friends/etc
western - women are carers and family whereas men are the main breadwinner

Question 11

furnham and farragher study on stereotyping in media?

Answer 11

samples of tv adverts (longitudinal study)
found that women were in more household adverts
men were more likely to be in power adverts and voiceovers
even if findings were reliable, cannot assume it is influential.

Question 12

fagot’s study on stereotyping directly?

Answer 12

parents behaviour with children
24 different families over five hour periods
favoured children who engaged in gender appropriate behaviour
parents reinforce behaviour
participant variables - parents may or may not stereotype more or less in reality

Question 13

study showing that gender may not be nurture?

Answer 13

diamond and sigmundson
child lost penis during surgery
grew up as a girl but felt more like a boy at puberty
lived as a man after finding out they were a boy
based on one case and child had a identical twin brother, gender reassignment was at 2

Question 14

biological explanation of gender

Answer 14

chromosomes - XX and XY affect hormone production.
androgens - men
oestrogens - women

brain development. Men have a bigger hypothalamus meaning more promiscuous.
cereberal hemispheres. women are better at emotion, language and motor skills
men are better with spatial and mathematics

females with adrenogenital syndrome and hormones surges
overexposure to androgens in the womb cause the child to feel more like a tomboy later on.
suggests that gender is related to hormones

boys have a surge of testosterone at 4. causes to be more active and boyish

Question 15

van goozen study

Answer 15

transsexuals of both sexes with hormone treatment show signs of decreases in aggression (men to women) and rises in aggression (women to men)

not a controlled experiment therefore other outside variables could have affected behaviour
hormones may not be having the same effect on typical men and women

debate on how we measure aggression, verbal fluency and visual spatial skills

Question 16

waber study

Answer 16

boys who went through puberty later had better verbal skills that early developers

Question 17

turners syndrome

Answer 17

XO chromosomes (one inactive X)
identify themselves as girls
have a higher than average verbal ability
lower spatial, visual memory and mathematical skills
difficulty relating to peers

Question 18

klinefelters syndrome

Answer 18

XXY chromosomes
identity - boys
lack of sexual interest
passive, shy and lacks ambition
poor language and reading skills
gender identity confusion

Question 19

problems with the biological approach?

Answer 19

SLT - gender is learned from environment
cultural differences and roles have changed over time

cognitive - reductionistic, all down to genes and chemicals

psychodynamic - unconscious, importance of childhood and relationships. agrees with the innate elements to development relating to sexual differences between men and women

hormone effects are studied on animals, unreplicated findings, a lot of individuals are identifying as androgynous

Question 20

SLT theory on gender development

Answer 20

learnt through from other people through observation

these are by real or symbolic models

Question 21

aquiring gender roles

Answer 21

modelling (attention and retention) becomes role models when others identify with them

indentification - factor of choosing models.

Question 22

performing gender roles

Answer 22

once models are identified, behaviour will be imitated or copied if they have self efficacy and the behaviour is then reinforced

Question 23

why is reinforcement important

Answer 23

key to adopting gender roles as society will reward behaviour according to specific gender stereotypes and this behaviour becomes internalised

direct reinforcement or vicarious reinforcement is used

Question 24

study showing reinforcement

Answer 24

smith and lloyd
mothers actions with baby perceived to be a certain sex.
sex typed play influences child

individual differences with participants, measuring toy play lacked validity and lacked temporal validity as it may not be consistent with today’s society

Question 25

evaluation of SLT on gender

Answer 25

biological - genes?? children will act in a certain way even if brought up non stereotyped

cognitive - gender develops in stages regardless

psychodynamic - develops in a swoop, not gradually. focuses too much on the social and conscious and not enough on the unconscious

low eco validity experiments
how to explain gender inappropriate behaviour
where stereotypes come from??

Question 26

what are the two theories in the cognitive approach for gender development?

Answer 26

Kohlberg theory (gender identity, stability and constancy)
Gender Schema theory

Question 27

what does the cognitive approach believe about gender

Answer 27

gender roles are a product of gender identity

Question 28

what is kohlberg’s theory?

Answer 28

Gender identity: 2-3 years. Children can label their own sex and others sex. They don’t understand gender is constant eg girls can be dads and boys can be mums
appearances change sex

gender stability: 3-4 years. Children understand their own sex is fixed but they’re still egocentric and can’t see that others sex are constant too. eg other girls can be dads
still easily fooled by appearances (female firefighters)

gender constancy: 4-7 years. Children have a more adult understanding of gender ad that sex is constant for everyone. they will find it unusual for gender inappropriate behaviour to occur
they will actively seek out role models to imitate. this enables them to internalise gender appropriate behaviour

stages are connected to their age which suggest a link to biology

Question 29

name and describe a study(ies) supporting the kohlberg theory

Answer 29

Marcus and overton
children were shown a puzzle with photographs of their faces and other children’s faces on it. They change the clothes on the pictures and found that younger children thought the sex of the person had changed when a boy wore a dress etc but older children understood that the sex had stayed constant.
Artificial task - low ecological validity and little bearing on real life

Munroe - children all over the world experienced kohlberg gender stages

Question 30

what s gender schema?

Answer 30

similar to kohlberg’s but believes children seek out role models once they have an identity.
they search their environment for information to help them develop a gender schema. this helps them interpret and organise what is happening in the world.
first schema is what activities are associated with each sex - they will form stereotypes and learn what each gender should/n’t do.
they go onto forming gender scripts - internal representation of a sex of actions that make up a routine

they pay more attention to activities associated with their sex and gender appropriate behaviour comes part of a child’s thinking.

information consistent with their schema is assimilated into their thinking and internalised whereas gender inconsistent behaviour fails to be encoded allowing their stereotypes about behaviour to remain intact

children learn more about the other sex around the age of 8-10

Question 31

study supporting gender schema?

Answer 31

Martin and Halverson
pictures of gender in/consistent behaviour to children.
children could remember consistent behaviour well but had distorted memories of inconsistent behaviour
this supports the idea that information consistent is assimilated into their thinking.
it also shows that they use schemas to help them make sense of their world

not a valid measure of a complex phenomenon

Question 32

evaluation of cognitive approach

Answer 32

biological - accepts that gender goes in stages but moreso because of genes etc than mental cognitions

SLT - environment and thinks more of the social context. also that children seek out role models before having an identity

psychodynamic - stages but psychodynamic is later and in one fell swoop. critisises the conscious element and requires more unconscious

can describe but not explain? and also why gender inappropriate behaviour occurs.
experiments supporting theories are labotory based so lacks eco validity ad the way gender constancy is measured isn’t accurate enough.
also the possibility children do understand but lack verbal ability to voice it

Question 33

describe the psychodynamic theory of gender development

Answer 33

gender identity occurs around 5 years old (phallic stage)

this is where they become aware of physical differences between boys and girls

Question 34

what is the oedipus complex

Answer 34

unconscious conflict that occurs in boys where they desire the mother and fear their father.
as a consequence they develop castration anxiety where they are afraid their father will find out and castrate them.

Question 35

what is the electra complex

Answer 35

unconscious in girls where they develop feelings for the father and become jealous of their mother
girls experience penis envy as they believe they’ve already been castrated
fear losing their mother’s love

Question 36

how the oedipus and electra complexes are resolved

Answer 36

they identify with the same sex parent - developing a superego and obtaining a gender identity and role
boys use repression to resolve this complex
girls identify with their mothers but have a weaker identity. They internalise the mother’s role.

Question 37

One parent families according to freud

Answer 37

wouldn’t be able to develop a complex and therefore a helathy gender identity and role
boys without a father would not develop a masculine identity and might be gay.

Question 38

study supporting the one parent family theory by freud?

Answer 38

Rekers and Moray - boys with absent fathers had experienced gender identity confusion

Question 39

Study supporting the oedipus complex?

Answer 39

Hans - fear of horses was actually one of his father as the horse resembled his father.
castration anxiety.

Critisised for being subjective as there is a simpler explanation - classical conditioning.
he interpreted the case to fit his theory and excluded his mother from it.
cannot generalise from one study

Question 40

evaluation of the psychodynamic approach on gender development

Answer 40

biology supports the idea that gender is driven by nature
doesn’t recognise the validity of unconscious forces as it is unscientific or family experiences

SLT - agrees that parents have a big influence on development but that children can learn from other same sex people. They would question whether gender develops at a certain stage in childhood and that gender would develop from the environment instead

Cognitive - supports the idea of stages but they are earlier. Questions the unconscious focus and believes the focus should be on the conscious mind

Malinowski - oedipus complex is a western phenomenon
sons of strict fathers do not have a stronger masc identity
doesn’t give an adequate account of female development and it is too subjective as it arises from his own male perspective (hans)
unscientific and lacks the ability to generalise because of the use of case studies