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Gender Flashcards

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1
Q

Define sex type

A

sex type is a biological fact - behaviour and/or choice is not related to gender

this behaviour is affected by our social environment

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2
Q

Define sex role stereotypes

A

socially and/or culturally defined sets of expectations we have about the behaviour of each gender (eg. boys like blue, girls like pink)

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3
Q

Give two ways in which we learn sex role stereotypes

A
  1. implicitly (internalisation - schema building)

2. explicitly (through modelling (SLT))

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4
Q

Who introduced androgyny? When?

A

1970s - Bem introduced the idea that someone can display behaviours of both genders

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5
Q

What did Bem say about stereotypes in modern society?

A

that they could cause psychological and social harm by artificially restricting behaviours (eg. some men cook, women play rugby etc.)

REINFORCING FIXED (MUSTABATORY) DISTINCTIONS COULD RESULT IN LOWER SELF-ESTEEM

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6
Q

What did Bem create in order to be able to reliably tell someone’s gender?

A

Bem’s Sex Role Inventory (BSRI)

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7
Q

Explain how the BSRI (Bem’s Sex Role Inventory) works in 3 steps

A
  • Contains 20 masc., 20 fem. and 20 neutral items
  • participants use a 7-point likert scale to rate their likelihood of performing the behaviours
  • scores are given for: masculinity (high masc., low fem.), femininity (low masc., high fem.) and androgyny (high ratio of masc + fem)
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8
Q

What was Bem’s Sex Role Inventory later criticised for? What happened after this criticism?

A

for describing androgyny (high in both masc. and fem.) and not the opposite (low in both masc. and fem.) (Spence et al. 1975)

a 4th category was later added - Undiffentiated (low masc. and fem.) - this has also been criticised for a lack of construct validity - are there enough items/range in the neutral category to fully describe someone?

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9
Q

What does Bem’s (1983) Gender schema theory state?

A
  • That everyone acts according to their dominant schema for a given situation:
  • some people have a wider repertoire of schematic references than others (they’re androgynous)
  • some have learned very specific schemata (they’re strongly masc. or fem.)
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10
Q

What is sex determined by biologically?

A

Sex chromosomes (male = XY, females = XX)

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11
Q

What does the Y chromosome contain?

A

the SRY gene which causes male physical development at the fetal stage - it creates a ‘sex-determining region Y protein’

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12
Q

Explain sex development in 4 steps

A
  1. every fetus appears the same until a few weeks after conception
  2. sex organ development is complete at around 3 months after conception
  3. Lutropin is then produced in both sexes in the adrenal glands
  4. testes contain Leydig cells, which respond to lutropin by producing testosterone which drives further male development (due to the testosterone)
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13
Q

Name 2 atypical sex chromosome patterns (intersex)

A
  1. Klinefelter’s syndrome

2. Turner’s syndrome

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14
Q

What is Klinefelter’s syndrome? How many people have it?

A
  • XXY chromosome configuration
  • child born with penis and develops male traits
  • (1 in 10,000 males)
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15
Q

Give 3 characteristics of Klinefelter’s syndrome

A
  • usually infertile
  • lack muscular definition
  • have feminised masculine characteristics (eg. slim jaw, less facial hair, sometimes even breast tissue etc.)
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16
Q

What is Turner’s syndrome? How many people have it?

A
  • XO chromosome configuration (one is damaged or missing)
  • born with both vagina and womb but underdeveloped ovaries
  • (1 in 2000 females)
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17
Q

Give 3 characteristics of Turner’s syndrome

A
  • no monthly period
  • physically short/stout build
  • can have webbed neck, narrow hips, irregular internal organs, nevi (chronic skin lesions)
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18
Q

Give 3 important hormones in gender

A
  1. testosterone
  2. oestrogen
  3. oxytocin
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19
Q

T/F - a fetus can be insensitive to testosterone (born as intersex)

A

TRUE - no formation of male genitalia and therefore often raised/born as girls

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20
Q

What does Berenbaum + Bailey (2003) study say about XX females?

A

that they are ‘tomboyish’ and prefer masculine activities in this case

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21
Q

T/F - brain development is not affected by testosterone

A

FALSE - it is affected by testosterone (eg. when mothers’ levels of it are elevated from certain medicines, effecting the babies brain development)

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22
Q

What do testosterone surges in puberty drive?

A

secondary male characteristics

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23
Q

When is oestrogen present in the fetus?

A

present in all cases in the fetus - the default gender is female

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24
Q

Give 2 functions of oestrogen

A
  1. promoted secondary female sex characteristics in puberty

2. controls menstrual cycle through increasing blood flow to the uterus

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25
Q

T/F = oestrogen level is associated with smaller brain size

A

TRUE - (shi et al. 2005)

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26
Q

T/F - oestrogen levels are elevated during pregnancy

A

TRUE

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27
Q

Where is oxytocin produced and why?

A

in the pituitary gland in response to skin-to-skin contact (eg. breastfeeding)

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28
Q

Give 5 functions of oxytocin

A
  1. promotes bonding behaviours
  2. causes milk production
  3. enables post-orgasm bliss/contentment
  4. helps in wound-healing
  5. dampens fight-or-flight response in women (not in men, due to testosterone) and is related to ‘tend and befriend’ (Taylor et al. 2000)
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29
Q

Define object permanence

A

When you know something is there even if you can’t see it

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30
Q

Define conservation

A

When something stays the same over time

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31
Q

How many stages are there in Kohlberg’s (1966) theory?

A

3 stages

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32
Q

What is Kohlberg’s first stage?

What age range is this for?

A

Gender Labelling

2-3 years old

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33
Q

What is Kohlberg’s second stage?

What age range is this for?

A

Gender stability

4-7 years old

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34
Q

What is Kohlberg’s third stage?

What age range is this for?

A

Gender constancy

7+ years old

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35
Q

Give 3 characteristics of children in the gender labelling stage (stage 1) of Kohlberg’s theory

A
  • children label others/themselves as a boy/girl
  • labelling of others happens first
  • label based on appearances only
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36
Q

Explain the gender labelling stage (stage 1) of Kohlberg’s theory

A

Piaget called this preoperational thinking - lacks internal logic (abstract thinking) - it’s not consistent because it’s based on external factors that can change (eg. hair length, clothes)

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37
Q

What effect does the gender labelling stage (stage 1) of Kohlberg’s theory have on gender development

A

By the end of this stage, children have schemata for simple masculine and feminine characteristics.

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38
Q

Give 2 characteristics of children in the gender stability stage (stage 2) of Kohlberg’s theory

A
  • Children realise gender is stable over time

- No realisation that gender is stable across situations (eg. If a man wears a dress, he can become a woman)

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39
Q

Explain the gender stability stage (stage 2) of Kohlberg’s theory

A

Before around age 7, Piaget noticed that children have no concept of conservation
(eg. children <7 shown a doll with a dress and a penis identify it as female (McConaghy, 1979))

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40
Q

Define conservation

A

The idea that individuals retain the same internal properties no matter what behaviour or appearance they show externally

41
Q

What effect does the gender stability stage (stage 2) of Kohlberg’s theory have on gender development

A

At the end of this stage, children start to realise that gender and appearance are separate, so anyone can perform any behaviour even when it isn’t stereotypical

42
Q

Give 2 characteristics of children in the gender constancy stage (stage 3) of Kohlberg’s theory

A
  • Children start to develop gender constancy - the belief that gender is entirely independent of time, place or appearance
  • Children begin to show preferences for gender-appropriate behaviour
43
Q

Explain the gender constancy stage (stage 3) of Kohlberg’s theory

A

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 it might one day be yours)

44
Q

What 2 effects does the gender constancy stage (stage 3) of Kohlberg’s theory have on gender development

A
  • Gender is fixed in the child’s mind

- Children will reject gender-inappropriate behaviour after this stage

45
Q

What 2 changes did Martin and Halverson (1981) propose adding to Kohlberg’s theory of gender development (1966)?

A
  1. that learning of gender-relevant info happens before gender constancy (gender labelling is enough to identify as boy/girl - children will show gender preferences for gender appropriate behaviour here)
  2. the gender schema you form will have effects on your psychological functioning later on in life (especially cognitive abilities like memory or attention span)
46
Q

What is GST?

A

Gender Schema Theory - focuses on schema formation

47
Q

How are children’s (gender) schematas formed?

A

using info from TV/parents/school/etc.

Therefore gender schemata are very simplistic (‘black and white’) at first - full of stereotypical information

48
Q

What are the 3 evolutionary benefits of the in-group/out-group bias?

A
  • maximisation of in-group positive qualities
  • maximisation of out-group negative qualities
  • this builds self-esteem and reinforces stereotypes
49
Q

Explain the in-group/out-group bias in 3 points

A
  1. as children develop a gender schema is formed about themselves and other people
  2. links are made between the two schemas
  3. cognitive processing naturally develops an in-group/out-group bias
50
Q

How does GST explain how gender beliefs become so fixed and powerful?

Why does this happen (give 2 reasons)?

A

Info that isn’t schema-consistent is ignored or disregarded

Why?

  • attention and working memory rely on stop-down influence from stored schematic info
  • we don’t ignore out-group info on purpose; it’s never perceived (eg. u don’t take in info u don’t expect to see (eg. boy doll doing girly things vs. barbie doing masculine things))
51
Q

How does in-group/out-group bias effect peer relationships in children?

A

it directs children towards same-sex peers and away from opposite-sex peers

  • this happened in the gender constancy stage of Kohlberg’s (1966) theory - he didn’t describe why
52
Q

How does in-group/out-group bias effect peer relationships as we get older?

A

we learn that everyone has the same biases (theory of mind) - this means we will fear rejection or hostility from peers if we form relationships with out-group members (Martin (1991))

  • this explains why gender constancy happens
53
Q

Define internalisation

A

accepting other’s beliefs because they resonate with yours

54
Q

Define identification

A

complying to gain access to a group, then accepting it over time

55
Q

What 2 concepts do Freudian theories use in their gender theories?

A
  • internalisation

- identification

56
Q

What is the Oedipus complex?

A

Freud’s (1905) phallic stage of psychosexual development

57
Q

Explain the Oedipus complex in 4 stages

A
  1. boy becomes aware of sexuality and desires mother’s full attention - sees father as a threat/competition
  2. boy wishes father dead - fears revenge if he finds out ( castration anxiety) the boy represses anxiety
  3. fathers behaviours are imitated to impress the mother - leading to identification with male gender behaviours
  4. conflict is resolved when boy no longer feels competition against the father - superego develops
58
Q

What is the Electra complex?

A

proposed by Jung (1913) to address the criticisms that Freud’s theories were gender biased (beta bias) - Freud added the ‘feminine oedipus attitude’

59
Q

What did Freud naming the ‘feminine oedipus attitude’ imply?

A

this implied that girls are failed/lesser boys and ignored any differences other than how they compensate for

60
Q

Explain the Electra complex in 4 stages

A
  1. girl initially attracted to their mother but are confused when they have no penis
  2. girl resents mother (penis envy) - assuming she doesn’t have one because the mother felt inadequate and castrated her
  3. girl begins sexual attraction to the father instead
  4. girl fails to identify with father as she observes gender differences - penis envy replaced by a desire for a baby - then identifying with the mothers role
61
Q

What 2 things may happen to a man if they do not have a father figure during the oedipus complex and therefore never overcome their repressed anxiety?

A
  1. the boy may become promiscuous because he internalised the belief that women are unattainable
  2. he may also internalise female behaviours and become homosexual
62
Q

What does the Electra complex imply about both girls and single parent boys?

A

that they identify with their mother as a compromise or last resort - nobody choses femininity

63
Q

What did Freud suggest about feminine behaviours in the Electra complex?

A

that they were inferior and 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 often more anxious/amoral

64
Q

What is indirect reinforcement?

A

For gender, Bandura (1991) combined vicarious reinforcement and observation to create ‘indirect reinforcement’ - he said identification was important here

65
Q

What did Bandura change the name of SLT to in 1986?

A

‘social cognitive theory’

  • by this time behaviourism = less popular and the cognitive approach explained processed that behaviourism couldn’t account for
66
Q

What did Bandura change the name of ‘mediational processes’ to?

A

‘cognitive processes’

67
Q

What are cognitive processes?

A

cost vs. benefit (expectancy value heuristic) - children undergo a cognitive assessment of new behaviours, comparing the expectations of reward vs. punishment (ie. behaviourism with a cognitive step)

68
Q

Explain gender maintenance by direct reinforcement in 3 steps

A
  • if a child performs a non-stereotypical behaviour they’re ‘punished’ when other children mock them - this behaviour becomes less frequent
  • whenever a parent/teacher/friend rewards gender-appropriate behaviour it becomes more frequent
  • when mocking leads to behaviour change that result sin acceptance/praise - the new behaviour becomes more frequent
69
Q

What did Bandura state about gender maintenance in direct reinforcement?

A

he said that whatever we expect, the future of behaviours depended on physical consequences - direct positive and negative reinforcement or punishment

70
Q

Define culture

A

consensus norms, traditions and morals that are valued by a society

71
Q

Give 2 expectations of women found in most cultures

A
  • women often seen as more conformist and less independent

- they are also usually less powerful/well-paid - this is decreasing in the UK (Alleye (2011))

72
Q

What was the name of Mead’s (1935) study on gender and culture in psychology?

A

Sex and Temperament in Three primitive societies

73
Q

Explain Mead’s (1935) ‘Sex and Temperament in Three primitive societies’ study in 3 points

A
  • overt participant observation
  • in papa new guinea - a place with many new tribes
  • all tribes spoke the same language
74
Q

What were the names of the 3 tribes studied in ‘Sex and Temperament in Three primitive societies’ (Mead (1935))?

A
  • Arapesh
  • Mundugumor
  • Tchambuli
75
Q

What were the men and women like in the Arapesh tribe in ‘Sex and Temperament in Three primitive societies’ (Mead (1935)?

A

BOTH were gentle, cooperative and kind

76
Q

What were the men and women like in the Mundugumor tribe in ‘Sex and Temperament in Three primitive societies’ (Mead (1935)?

A

BOTH were aggressive, machiavellian and narcissistic

77
Q

What were the men and women like in the Tchambuli tribe in ‘Sex and Temperament in Three primitive societies’ (Mead (1935)?

A

MEN - emotionally fragile, sensitive and anxious

WOMEN - assertive, hostile and domineering

78
Q

Define media

A

Methods of transmitting or storing knowledge (eg. book, TV adverts, video

79
Q

What did Bandura and Bussey (1999) study on media and gender role models?

A

conducted content analysis of a large range of film and print media to investigate gender roles

80
Q

In Bandura and Bussey’s (1999) study on media and gender role models what were the codes for men and the codes for women?

A

Codes for men - confident, independent, assertive, interesting, complex and strong

Codes for women - dependent, anxious/hysterical, unambitious, emotional, two-dimensional

81
Q

What are 3 main findings in studies on media and gender role models?

A
  • men shown in control - women shown to be helpless (Hodges (1981))
  • On TV women physically flawless and emotionally passive - men clumsy but more accomplished (Conley (2011))
  • Media stereotypes effects on children’s beliefs (kids yrs6-12 watching >25hrs/week expressed significantly more stereotypes than those watching <10hrs/week) (McGhee et al, (1980))
82
Q

Give 3 ways in which all media reinforce gender stereotypes through vicarious reinforcement

A
  • 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 and under-represented in antagonists - this effects self-efficacy
83
Q

Define gender dysphoria

A

chronic distress due to perception of sex and gender mismatch - this evades intersex conditions, which are biologically verifiable

84
Q

Give the 4 main biological explanations for atypical gender development

A
  1. Genes - a possible transgender gene has been identified
  2. Brain and gender - It’s possible that transexuals’ brains do not match their genetic sex
  3. Phantom Limb + Cross-wiring
  4. Effects from environment - pesticides
85
Q

Biological explanations of atypical gender development:

Explain the potential transgender gene which has been identified in 4 steps

A
  1. Hare et al. (2009) studied 112M>F transexuals’ DNA
  2. androgen receptor gene was significantly longer in transexuals
  3. this different reduces the ability of testosterone to cause changes in development
  4. the brain of transexuals may be much less masculine than average because of this if the threshold level for masculine development is never reached
86
Q

Biological explanations of atypical gender development:

Explain in 4 steps how it is possible that transexuals’ brains do not match their genetic sex

A
  1. The BSTc (bed nucleus of stria terminals) is twice the size of it is in straight men than in women
  2. it integrates info from across the limbic system which is used to monitor stress-readiness levels (allostatic valence)
  3. BSTc size correlates with preferred sex, not biological sex
  4. M>F transexuals BSTc = similar size to female average (Zhou et al (1995)) and F>M transexuals BSTc = usually similar size to the typical male range (Kruijver et al (2000))
87
Q

Diathesis-stress and gender:

What are the 4 few stable behavioural differences between men and women?

A
  1. Brains are not 100% masculine or 100% feminine
  2. Male brains are larger than female brains
  3. Females have a proportionally thicker cortex and more grey matter/less white matter when compared with men
  4. Men have larger ventricles (glymphatic structures)
88
Q

Diathesis-stress and gender:

Explain in 3 points how stress can change the sex of brain regions in less than 15 minutes

A
  • Typical female neurons have more dendritic spines than male neurons (important for firing/processing speed)
  • After 15 mins of stress, researchers found a reversal in this pattern in the rat hippocampus
  • Therefore, physical structure of brain cells can’t determine sex - you need to know whether there was high or low stress. This is an interactionist/diathesis-stress/nature and nurture issue.
89
Q

Diathesis-stress and gender:

Give 2 factors which can change the sex of the brain

A
  1. stress
  2. many environmental factors have been shown to change the default sex of developing brain regions (eg. All stages of life, size of social group, level of environmental stimulation)
90
Q

Diathesis-stress and gender:

Explain how all brains are “intersex” or androgynous in 3 steps

A
  • there are some brain areas that are vulnerable to change and some that are not
  • during pregnancy, every time the mother experiences stress, some areas of the baby’s developing brain will change their sex characteristics
  • this means we’re all born with a “mosaic” of brain gender regions - this will change throughout your life
91
Q

Biological explanations of atypical gender development:

What are phantom limbs?

A

Amputees may feel phantom limbs - they get sensations like itches and pain from the limb that’s been removed

92
Q

Biological explanations of atypical gender development:

Why do phantom limbs occur?

A

Due to plasticity and cross-wiring after the injury (Ramachandran, 2008) - Neighbouring networks can acquire functions of severed networks (Ramachandran et al., 1995)

93
Q

Biological explanations of atypical gender development:

Ramachandran & McGeoch (2007) suggest sex organs have specific brain locations that are hard-wired - explain in 3 points what would happen if this wiring was disrupted

A
  • If this wiring is disrupted or develops in an atypical way (eg. because of low fetal testosterone activity), genitals can be represented in the opposite way to the person’s sex
  • This can lead to experiencing a phantom penis - a symptom claimed by ⅔ of F -> M transexuals
  • This includes phantom erections, and leads to loss of feeling in female genitals
94
Q

Biological explanations of atypical gender development:

What is DDT?

A

DDT is an insecticide banned in UK and USA from 1972, but still used in developing countries (India produces/uses the most currently)

95
Q

Biological explanations of atypical gender development:

Give 3 disadvantages of DDT

A
  • causes sodium channels to open, resulting in nerve spasms and death in insects
  • contains oestrogen that can reach the bloodstream in exposed humans
  • boys born to DDT-exposed mothers showed feminine characteristics, indicating they’d had an increased exposure to oestrogen in the womb (Vreugdenhil et al., 2002).
96
Q

Social explanations of atypical gender development:

What are the 3 main social explanations of GID?

A
  • Mental illness
  • Mother-son relationships (Stoller, 1975)
  • Father-Daughter relationships (Zucker, 2004)
97
Q

Social explanations of atypical gender development:

Explain in 5 steps how mental illness can cause GID

A
  • Case studies suggest childhood trauma may lead to gender dysphoria (Coates et al., 1991)
  • The boy’s mother had an abortion around age 3 (think phallic/gender stability stage)
  • The mother became depressed - the boy witnessed this
  • Coates et al. suggested the boy developed gender dysphoria as a way to understand the mother (becoming more like her)
  • This is a defense mechanism (linked to Freudian theory)
98
Q

Social explanations of atypical gender development:

Explain in 4 steps how Mother-son relationships (Stoller, 1975) can cause GID

A
  • Boys that developed dysphoria had very close and enmeshed relationships with their mothers
  • Boundaries were very blurred
  • These boys may have over-identified with their mother
  • Identification with the wrong model may lead to confused identity
99
Q

Social explanations of atypical gender development:

Explain in 3 steps how Father-Daughter relationships (Zucker, 2004) can cause GID

A
  • 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

Psychology (12 decks)

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