Gender Flashcards
What is androgyny?
Formed from the two words ‘andro’ meaning male and ‘gyny’ meaning female
Posessing both male and female characteristics
What is gender?
A person’s sense of maleness or femaleness, a psychological/social construct
What is sex?
Being genetically male (XY) or female (XX)
What are sex-role stereotypes?
A set of shared expectations within a social group about what men and women should do and think
Who studied the Psychodynamic Explanation of Gender Development?
Freud & Jung
What concepts do Freudian theories use?
They use the concepts of internalisation & identification
What is internalisation?
Accepting others’ beliefs because they resonate with yours
What is identification?
Complying to gain access to a group, then accepting it over time
What can internalisation & identification be used to explain (Freud)?
Can explain:
- In-group/out-group preferences (in GST)
- Rejection of gender-inappropriate behaviour (in Kholberg’s theory)
- Sex-role sterotypes
What is castration anxiety?
Boy’s fear that their father will cut off their genitals
When did Freud make the Oedipus Complex?
1905
When did Freud theories suggest that the Oedipus Complex happens?
In the Phallic stage of psycholsexual development
What is the process of the Oedipus Complex?
1 - Boy becomes aware of sexuality & desires mother’s full attention - sees father as threat/competition
2 - Boy wishes father was dead; fears his revenge if he finds out = castration anxiety. Boy represses the anxiety
3 - Father’s behaviours are imitated to impress mother, leading to identification with male gender behvaiours
4 - Conflict is resolved when the boy no longer feels competition against the father - superego develops
What was a criticism of the Oedipus complex?
It did not account for girls (only boys and their father), nor people who had gay parents, single parents or who were orphaned
Why was the Electra Complex made?
Made by Jung to address criticisms that Freud’s theories were gender biased (beta bias)
Freud added what he called the “feminine oedipus attitude”
Who proposed the Electra Complex?
Jung - 1913
What was Freud’s opinion on female development, based on his oedipus complex?
He implied that girls are failed/lesser boys & ignored any differences other than how they compensate for not having the oedipus complex
What is the process of the Electra Complex?
1 - Girls are initially attracted to their mother but are confused when they discover she has no penis
2 - Girl resents mother (penis envy), assuming she doesn’t have one because the mother felt it was inadequate and castrated her
3 - Girl begins to feel sexual attraction to the father instead
4 - Girl fails to identify with father as she observes gender differences. Penis envy replaced by the desire for a baby, and she then identifies with mother’s role
What is penis envy?
Girl resenting their mother, aussuming she doesn’t have a penis as the mother felt inadequate & castrated her
What are the issues with the oedipus complex?
It suggests all healthy men overcome their repressed anxiety - those whithout a father figure will never attain this
- The boy may become promiscuous as he is internalised the belief that women are unattainable
- He may also internalise female behaviours & become homosexual
What are the issues with the Electra Complex?
It implies girls (&single-parent boys) identify with their mother as a compromise/last resort - nobody chooses femininity
- Suggested feminine behvaiours were inferior & showed weakness, the realisation that they lack what it takes to be a man forced them to settle for the woman’s role
This is why women are more often anxious/amoral
Whose ideas were adopted by SLT psychologists (on gender)?
Freud’s ideas
Bandura for example was a SLT psychologist
What are the two processes in the two process model for gender development (SLT)?
Process 1 = acquired by Classical Conditioning
Process 2 = maintained by Operant Conditioning
How did Bandura alter Freud’s theory of gender development?
Bandura (1982) added social factors to the learning theory
These had effect through Mediational Processes
What is gender dysphoria?
Chronic distress due to the perception of sex & gender mismatch
Excludes intersex issues - they are biologically verifiable
When was Gender Identity Disorder identified?
It first appeared in DSM-III (1980)
How is there a culture bias in Gender Identity Disorder?
Culture bias is identified - is considered abnormal in some cultures and not others
e.g. Samoan culture has 3 genders (extra feminine male category) & none are at increased risk of psychologial disorder
What was Gender Identity Disorder changed to?
In DSM-V (2013) replaced GID with the term Gender Dysphoria (spectrum)
Why was GID changed to Gender Dysphoria?
Social construction of gender in Western countries changes over time
What is the biological explanation involving genes for atypical gender development?
There is a possible transgender gene
Who studied the possible transgender gene and what was found?
Hare et al. (2009)
Studied 112 M –> F tensexuals’ DNA
Androgen receptor gene significantly longer in transexuals
How does the androgen receptor gene being longer in transexuals cause atypical development?
The difference in the gene being longer in M –> F transexuals reduces changes that can be caused by testosterone in development
Brain of transexuals may be less masculine than avg., if threshold for masc development is never reached
How may the brain cause atypical gender development?
There are many sex & gender differences in brain structure & functioning
Possible that transexuals’ brians do not match their genetic sex
Give an example of a part of the brain that varies in men and women and what is its role?
The BSTc (bed nucleus of stria terminalis) - twice hte size in straight men than women
Integrates info from limbic system
Info is used to monitor stress-readiness levels (allostatic valence)
How may the BSTc in the brain cause atypical gender development?
2x large in straight men
Size correlates with preffered sex, not bio sex
M –> F trans BSTc is similar size to femal avg. (Zhou et al., 1995)
F –> M trans BTSc usually within typical male range (Kruijver et al., 2000)
Are there many behavioural differences between men and women?
No- there are very few
What are the few differences between male and female brains?
- Brains are not 100% male or female
- Male brains are larger than female brains
- Females hav proportionally thicker cortex & mroe grey matter/less white matter compared to men
- Men have lerger ventricles (glymphatic structures)
Why do male brains tend to be around 10-15% larger than female brains?
As men are generally 10-15% larger than women
The brain size is relatively proportionate ti body size
How can stress affect the brain?
Stress can change the sex of brain regions in less than 15 minues
How can stress change the gender of the brain in 15 minutes?
- Typical fem neurons have more denritic spines than male neurons (important for firing/processing speed)
- After 15 mins of stress, researchers found a reversal in this pattern in rat hippocampus
- Shows pysical structure of brain cells can’t determine sex - need to know if there’s high or low stress
This is an interactionist /diathesis stress view/ nature & nurture issue
How can environmental factors affect the structure/gender of the brain?
They can change the default sex of developing brain regions
e.g. all stages of life, size of social group, level of environmental stimulation
Are all brian areas vulnerable to changing gender, give an exmaple of when this can happen?
Some brain areas are vulnerable & some are not
During pregnancy, every time the mother experiences stress, some areas of the baby’s developing brain will change their sex characteristics
How does maternal stress during pregnancy cause the brain structure to vary in gender?
Means we are all born with a “mosaic” of brian gender regions
- Will change throughout your life
- All brains are “intersex” or Androgynous
What are phantom limbs?
Someone experiencing sensations of having a limb which they’re missing
Amputees and transexual females experience this
What happens when amputees experience phantom limbs?
They get sensations like itches & pain from the limb that’s been removed
Why do amputees sometimes experience phantom limbs?
It is due to plasticity & cross-wiring after the injury (Ramachandran, 2008)
Neighbouring networks cna acquire functions of severed networks (Ramachandran et al., 1995)
What did Ramachandran & McGeoch (2007) about transexuals and phantom limbs?
They suggested sex organs have specific brain locations that are hard-wired
They suggested that similarly to amputees, F–> M transexuals experience phantom penis
Why do F –> M transexuals experience phantom penis according to Ramachandran & McGeoch (2007)?
If wiring is distrupted/ develops in atypical way (e.g. low foeatal testosterone activity), genitals can be represented in opposite way to person’s sex
Can lead to phantom penis - symptom claimed by 2/3 F –> M transexuals
Inc. phantom erections & leads to loss of feeling in female genitals
Give an example of a harmful pesticide that can cause atypical gender development
DDT - insecticide which is banned in UK & USA from 1972
Is still used in developing countries e.g. India and it is cheap
How does DDT work as an insecticide?
It causes sodium channels to open, resulting in nerve spasms (due to all neurons firing at once) & death in insects
What effect does DDT have an on animals?
It’s not deadly to most animals, it doesn’t contain oestrogen, however the body identifies it similarly to oestrogen, thereofore it has the same effects as oestrogen have, that can reach the bloodstream in exposed humans
How can DDT affect boys bron to a mother that has been exposed to the chemical?
They display feminine characteristics - indicates they’d had in increased exposureto oestrogen in the womb (Vreugdenhil et al., 2002)
What is a social explanation of Gender Identity Disorder?
Mental illness
How can mental illness be an explanation for Gender identity Disorder?
Case studies suggest childhood trauma may lead to gender dysphoria (Coates et al., 1991)
What was the research that Coates et al. conducted into mental illness causing GID?
- The boy’s mother had an abortion around age 3 (phallic stage)
- Mother became depressed - boy witnessed this
- Coates et al. suggested the boy developed gender dysphoria as a way to understand the mother (more like her)
- This is a defense mechanism (Freudian theory)
What sort of psychologist was Coates?
Freudian psychologist
How do Freudian theories explain GID?
- Mother-Son relationships (Stoller, 1975)
- Father-Daughter relationships (Zucker, 2004)
How are Mother-Son relationships (Stoller, 1975) an explanation for GID?
- Boys that developed dysphoria had very close enmeshed relationships with their mothers
- Boundaries very blurred
- These boys may have over-identified with their mother
- Identification with the wrong model may lead to confused identity
How are Father-Daughter relationships (Zucker, 2004) an explanation of GID?
- Dysphoric girls were usually rejected by their fathers as young children
- This results in over-identification with the father
- Increased imitation of male behaviours leads to confused identity
Define culture
Consensus norms, traditions & morals that are valued by a society
What are the general views on women held by most cultures?
Women are often seen to be more conformist & less independent than men
What did Berry et al.’s 2002 meta-analysis show about female conformity levels?
Women seen as more conformist in most cultures
This study showed this si false; the larges factors in conformity were activity level & physicak environment, not gender
What did Alleye (2011) show about streotypes of women int he UK?
Thier study showed women are usually less powerful/well-paid - this is decreasing in the UK
What was the study that Mead conducted in 1935 about?
Sex & Temperanment in 3 primitve societies
Where and how was Mead’s (1935) study conducted?
Overt participant observation - conducted in Papua New Guinea, a place with many small tribes speaking the same language
What were the 3 tribes called in Mead’s (1935) study? Which one of them was most important?
- Arapesh
- Mundugumor
- Tchambuli - this tribe was the most important
What are the Araphesh tribe’s views on men & women in Mead’s (1935) study?
Women - Gentle, cooperative, kind
Men - Gentle, cooperative, kind
What are the Mundugumor tribe’s views on men & women in Mead’s (1935) study?
Women - Aggresive, machiavelian, narcissistic
Men - Aggresive, machiavelian, narcissistic
What are the Tchambuli tribe’s views on men & women in Mead’s (1935) study? And why?
Women - Assertive, hostile, domineering
Men - Emotionally fregile, sensitive, anxious
This tribe had some contat with Western societies - thier views weren’t the same for men & women unlike the other tribes int eh study
Define media
Methods of transmitting or storing knowledge (e.g. book, TV, advert, video)
What was the study conducted by Bandura & Bussey (1999) on media & gender?
Conducted content analysis of a large range of film & print media to investigate gender roles
What are the codes displayed for men in media?
Confident, independent, assertive, interesting, complex, strong
What are the codes for women displayes in media?
Dependent, anxious/hysterical, unambitious, emotional, two-dimensional
Give some example of how women vs. men are percieved in the media
- Men shown in control; women shown to be helpless (Hodges at al. 1981)
- On TV, most women are physically flawless & emotionally passive, men are clumsy but more accomplished (Conley et al., 2011)
What did McGhee at al.’s (1980) study show about the link between the amount of TV watched and children’s beliefs?
Kids age 6-12 watching >25 hrs/week expressed significantly more streotypes than those watching<10 hrs/week
How do we learn sex-role sterotypes?
Both IMPLICITLY (internalisation - schema building) & EXPLICITLY (modelling - SLT)
Is behaviour gender related?
It is not related to gender, the way we behave is affected by our social environment, upbringing & experiences
Who introduced the idea of androgyny?
Bem in the 1970s - introduced the idea that one person could display behaviours of both genders
What did Bem claim about gender sterotypical behaviours?
She claimed you could not reliably tell someone’s gender by a list of their behaviours alone
Most people perform some non-sterotypical behaviours
What effect did Bem claim sterotypes could have on people?
She said sterotypes in modern society could cause pyschological & social harm by artificially restricting behaviour
What was the Ben Sex Role Inventory (BSRI)
It contained 20 different masculine, 20 feminine and 20 neutral items
Ppts use a 7-point Likert scale to rate their liklihood of performing the behaviours
Scores are given for: Masculinity, Femininity and Androgyny
How are the 3 gender type categories determined in the BSRI?
Masculinity - high masc, low fem
Femininity - low masc, high fem
Androgyny - high ration of masc to fem
Give a few examples of masculine traits in Bem’s BSRI
Self- reliant Athletic Forceful Dominanat Competitive Ambitious
Give a few examples of feminine traits in Bem’s BSRI
Cheerful Shy Loyal Compassionate Childlike Tender
Give a few examples of non-gendered traits in Bem’s BSRI
Moody Happy Jealous Friendly Tactful Helpful
What was a criticism that was made of the BSRI?
It described androgyny (high in both M and F traits) but not the opposite (low in M and F traits)
Spence et al., 1975
How did Bem respond to the criticism of her BSRI ignoring low in M and F traits?
She added a fourth category:
Undifferentiated = low M low F
What was a criticism that made of Bem’s extra fourth category?
Fourth type has been criticised for a lack of construct validity
Are there enough items/range in the neutral category to fuly describe someone
Who designed the Gender Schema Theory
Bem (1983)
She wrote up her findings to propose this theory
What was Bem’s Gender Schema Theory?
- Everyone acts according to their dominant schema for a given situation
- Some people have a wider repertiore of schematic references than others (androgynous)
- Some have learned very specific schemata (strongly M or F)
What does Kholberg’s theory of gender development include?
It draws on his own levels of moral development (seen in Forensics & Piaget’s theory)
What are the 4 stages in Piaget’s periods of cognitive development?
- Birth to 2 yrs –> Sensori-motor
- 2-6yrs –> Pre-operational
- 7-11yrs –> Concrete operational
- 12yrs to adulthood –> Formal operational
How many chromosomes do humans have?
23 pairs - contain hundreds or even thousands or genes
What is sex determined by?
Sex chromosomes
Females have XX & males have XY
Which chromosome in the SRY gene located on?
The Y chromosome
What does the SRY gene do?
It causes male physical development at the fetal stage
SRY gene creates “sex-determining region Y protein”; a transcription factor that binds to DNA to control other genes (this is an epigenetic change)
What is epigenetics?
A mechanism for regulating gene activity independent of DNA seq. that determines which genes are turned off
When do sex organs develop in fetuses?
Around 3 months after conception - until then, every fetus appears the same
After sex organ development in fetuses, what hormone is then produced?
Lutropin is produced in the adrenal glands
How does lutropin activate male development?
- Testes contain Leydig cells, these respond to lutropin by producing testosterone
- Testosterone drives further male development
What are the two intersex conditions that can occur?
- Kelinfelter’s syndrome
- Turner’s sydrome
Which gender does Kleinfelter’s syndrome affect?
1 in 10,000 males
They have an XXY configuration
How does Klienfelter’s syndrome affect an individual (what traits do they have)?
- Child is born with penis and develops male traits
- They’re ususally infertile, lack muscular definition & have feminized masculine characteristics (e.g. slim jaw, less facial hair, sometimes even breast tissue)
Which gender does Turner’s syndrome affect?
1 in 2,000 females
They have XO rather than XX or XY - one sex chromosome is damaged/missing
How does Turner’s syndrome affect an individual (what traits do they have)?
- Born with both vagina & womb but underdeveloped ovaries
- No monthly period, physically short/strong build
- Can have webbed neck, narrow hips, irregular internal organs, nevi (chronic skin lesions)
What heppens if a fetus is insesitive to testosterone?
They’re born as intesex
- No formation of male genitalia
- Often born/raised as girls because no penis/testicles are visible
- Some are identified as XY and raised as boys
How does testosterone affect brain development in fetuses?
If mother’s testosterone levels are elevated from certain medicines it can affect brain development
Studies show XX females are “tomboyish” & prefer masculine activities in this case (Berenbaum & Bailey, 2003)
Which fetuses is oestrogen present in?
It’s present in all cases for the fetus - the default gender is female
How is oeastrogen said to affect the brain?
Oestrogen level is associated with smaller brain size (Shit et al., 2015)
How is oestrogen controlled in females?
- Promotes secondary female sex characteristics in puberty
- Controls menstrual cycle through increasing blood flow to uterus
- Elevated during pregnancy
Give 3 hormones that promote development of gender?
- Testosterone
- Oestrogen
- Oxytocin
Where is oxytocin produced?
In the pituitary gland in response to skin-to-skin contact
e.g. breastfeeding
What does oxytocin cause?
- Promotes bonding behaviours
- Causes milk production
- Enables post-orgasm bliss/contentment
- Helps in wound-healing
How is oxytocin related to “tend and befriend”?
It dampens fight-or-flight response in women (not in men, due to testosterone)
It is related to the “tend and befriend” response (Taylor et al., 2000)
What are Kholberg’s stages in gender?
- Stage 1: Gender labelling
- Stage 2: Gender stability
- Stage 3: Gender constancy
When does gender labelling (satge 1) happen?
2-3 years old
What are the characteristics of the gender labelling stage (stage 1)?
- Children label themselves as “boy” or “girl” & others as “man” or “woman” - labelling of others happens first
What is the explanation for gender labelling (stage 1)?
Piaget called this pre-operational thinking
- Lacks internal logic (abstract thinking)
- It’s not consistent because it’s based on external factors that can change
What is the effect of gender labelling (stage 1) on gender development?
By the end of the stage, children have schema for simple masculine & feminine characteristics
What is the age range for the gender stability stage (stage 2)?
4-7 years old
What are the characteristics for the gender stability stage (stage 2)?
- Children realise gender is stable over time
- No realisation that gender is stable across situations e.g. if a man wears a dress, he can become a woman
What are the explantions for gender stability stage (stage 2)?
- Before around age 7, Piget noticed that children have no concept of conservation
- Conservation is the idea that individuals retain the same internal properties no matter what behaviour or apperance they show externally
e. g. children <7 shown a doll with a dress & a penis identify it as female (McConaghy, 1979)
What is the effect of gender stability (stage 2) on gender development?
At the end of this stage, children start to realise that gender & apperance are seperate, so anyone can perform any behaviour even when it isn’t sterotypical
What is the age range for the gender constancy stage (stage 3)?
7 years plus
Into adulthood
What are the characteristics of the gender constancy stage (stage 3)?
- Children start to develop gender constancy - the belief that gender is entirely independent of time, place or apperance
- Children begin to show preferences for gender-appropriate behaviour
What is the explanation for the gender constancy stage (stage 3)?
Gender appropriate behaviour preference is the result of understanding gender can’t change
(If it can change, there’s no harm in performing the actions of either gender as one day it might be yours)
What is the effect of the gender constancy stage (stage 3) on gender development?
- Gender is fixed in the child’s mind
- Children will reject gender-inappropriate behaviour after this stage
How does the media enforce gender sterotypes?
Through vicarious reinforcement
How does the media vicariously reinforce gender sterotypes?
- Women are seen to succeed when they’re feminine
- Men are seen to succeed when they’re masculine
- Sex-relevant characteristics are usually exaggerated in protagonists & under-represented antagonists. This affects self-efficacy
What was Pingree (1978) the first to suggest about the media?
He was the first to suggest using media to change people’s perceptions of gender
- e.g. men & women should be deliberately cast in non-sterotypical roles
What did Pingree’s (1978) study on the effects of media on gender do and what was found?
It compared children watching stereotypical or counter-stereotypical adverts
–> There was a significant difference between the two groups in their answers on a questionnaire about gender-appropriate behaviours
What was the effect of Pingree’s 1978 study?
It started a large gender-equality movement in media (ecological validity)
What did Bandura (1991) combine to create indirect reinforcement?
The processes of vicarious reinforcement & observation to create that overall term
What did Bandura do to his theory in 1986?
He revised the name of his SLT
He called the modern version Social Cognitive Theory
Why did Bandura change the name of his theory in 1986?
By the 1990s, behaviourism was becoming less popular - the cog. approach was explaining the processes it couldn’t account for
Bandura changed his term “mediational processes “ to “cognitive processes”
How are the “cognitive processes” different to the “mediational processes”?
They are more cost vs benefit
Children undergo a cognitive assessment of new behaviours, comparing the expectations of reward vs punishment (i.e. behaviourism with a cognititve step)
How did Bandura’s Social Cognitive Model still contain behaviourist aspects?
He said whatever we expected, the future of behaviours depended on physical concequences
Direct +ive & -ive reinforcements or punishment
What is direct tuition?
Bandura
Cognitive processes like rehersal allow children to learn through direct intuition
e.g. through TV programmes, parental instructions etc
What does self-direction mean?
Bandura
When children have internalised behvaiours, they begin to self direct
Cog. processes allow them to feel good/bad when they relect on their own actions - producing own reinforcement/punishment
What is reciprocal determinism?
Bandura
- Behaviour is determined by a feedback loop
- Behaviour - reflection - concequence - adjustment - behaviour - etc
