Gender and Social Hierarchy (11.22 Lecture)

Question 1

gender

Answer 1

highly influential social category that shapes how people perceive themselves and others (influenced by cultural norms)
- society: how we identify (pronouns)
- psychology: how we define our social world (expectations)

Question 2

biosocial construction model

Answer 2

(see notes)
where does gender come from? why are people of different genders different?
essentially: reproduction and male strenth as well as other econ, culture realities led to a division of labor which helped construct gender norms –> hormonal regulation, self-regulation to gender identities, social regulation –> sex-differentiated affect, cognition, and behavior

Question 3

trait differences between men and women?

Answer 3

• not actually that many differences
• the small changes don’t warrant the bifractation of norms

Question 4

men and women switching job positions

Answer 4

• men make more money in male-dominated sectors and vice versa
• more women work in male-dominated roles than men who work in women dominated roles

Question 5

study of men and women in the workplace

Answer 5

they both had the same exact business pitches, credentials, etc. but the men were rewarded more
men told they were more “fact-based”
women told were too “bossy” and should act more like men

Question 6

how to stereotypes effect men?

Answer 6

1. pressure on men to maintain their masculinity (suppress innate qualities)
2. “fragile masculinity” try to maintain masculinity in harmful ways
3. especially for masculinity threat, often become more aggressive (to prove their masculinity)

Question 7

setting up his research

Answer 7

1. cover story (so they don’t know the intentions of the study)
   - “randomly assigned the social category of gender”
2. masculinity scales
   - extrinsic motivation to be stereotypically masculine
   - intrinsic vs. extrinsic
3. masculinity threat
   - “your responses indicate you are as masculine as the average man, much less masculine than the average man, etc.”
4. outcome variables
   - aggressive cognition: word-completion “TE_SE”
   - anti-gay bias: “how much did you like the person who’s voice you just heard?”

Question 8

aggressive cognition

Answer 8

younger men with more “fragile” (extrinsically pressured) masculine identities were especially susceptible to masculinity threats (compensatory aggression)

Question 9

bias against masculine gender nonconformity

Answer 9

the condition: listening to a “fem”/”masc” voice and randomly assigned to threat or not threat
Results: higher aggression

under threat straight men with more fragile (intrinsically pressured) masculine identities are especially likely to perceive gay men as more effeminate resulting in bias against other men who were gender nonconforming

Question 10

the development of fragile masculinities

Answer 10

the condition: quiz on gender, “well on boy quiz” or “well on boy quiz and bad on girl quiz”
*also asked parents beliefs
Results: by age of around 14, start to feel aggression (feel more like they have to act like men)
*found worse in cases where parents had strong beliefs about masculinity

only after boys had gone through puberty did they show the same effect as young adult men–where pressure resulted in aggression after masculinity threat (especially for parents of transgender children).

Question 11

when is masculinity “fragile?”

Answer 11

expectancy(norms) –>
(for certain boys and men who don’t feel v masc)
discrepancy –>
(intrinsically pressured “fragile” masculine identity)
threat –>
compensatory, stereotypical responses

Question 12

what can we do?

Answer 12

• individual level: challenge and resist gender stereotypes
• family and workplace level: make sure there is an equal distribution of responsibilities across family and social/ professional role
• in the media: greater visibility of diverse representations of gender
• society @ large: redistribution of society (so men and women share equal roles in society)