Gender Differences Flashcards
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The human brain (dimorphism)
differences between females and males in the structure of specific brain regions are not highly dimorphic in the population and not internally consistent in the individual
Behavioural neuroendocrinology
findings that challenge the notion of genetically fixed, non-overlapping sexually dimorphic hormonal systems.
Psychological findings
highlight the similarities between men and women
Gender similarities hypothesis
females and males are quite similar in most, but not all, psychological variables (social explanations also include expectations, experience, attitudes, parent’s attitudes and stereotype threat)
Verbal ability
females outperform on certain tasks (ex. girls speak sooner)
Reading and writing
girls showed significantly higher reading and writing scores than boys across every wave of assessment and in every grade; gender differences in visual-spatial abilities favour males
Spatial ability
understanding, perceiving and manipulating shapes and figures
Spatial visualization
ability to process spatial information
Spatial perception
ability to identify and locate judgements of horizontal and vertical orientation in space when distracting information is present
Mental rotation
ability to imagine the transformation of a multidimensional figure as rotated in space
Mathematical ability
boys outperform in standardized tests, girls outperform in math grades
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Three key challenges to the gender binary
- assignment at birth ≠ gender identity
- gender non-conforming
- being gender is separable from doing gender
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Developmental research
suggests that the tendency to view gender/sex as a meaningful binary category is culturally determined and malleable
Cultural beliefs around the differences between men and women can: (4)
[1] dictate individuals’ treatment of others (gender discrimination)
[2] shape individuals’ conceptions of themselves (self-stereotypes)
[3] undermine individuals’ performance in stereotyped domains (stereotype threat)
[4] shape legal and social policies (institutional gender biases)
Gender discrimination
shape individuals’ treatment of others
self-stereotypes
shape individuals’ conceptions of themselves
stereotype threat
undermine individuals’ performance in stereotyped domains
institutional gender biases
shape legal and social policies
