Gender: Sex role stereotypes Flashcards
Define the term sex
Sex is a result of …
the biological differences between males and females (includes chromosomes , hormones and anatomy)
nature
Define the term gender
Gender is a result of …
the physiological and cultural differences between males and females (includes attitudes , behaviours and social roles)
nurture
What are sex role stereotypes?
Give some examples of stereotypes (4)
a set of shared beliefs about what is appropriate/expected for males and females in a given society
career , household jobs , sports , school subjects
Who reinforces sex role stereotypes? 4
What can stereotyping lead to?
parents , peers , media , schools
sexist assumptions which can deny people oppurtunities
Define the term androgyny
Make another point about its meaning
the blurring of traditional distinction between masculinity and femininity in Western cultures
displaying a balance of masculine and feminine characteristics in ones personality
What is used to measure androgyny?
Bem’s Sex Role Inventory 1974
Describe how the BSRI was developed
make 2 points
-50 males and 50 females rated 200 traits in terms of how desirable they were for men and women
-the 20 traits with the highest scores in each category became the masculine and feminine items
How many questions are in the BSRI questionaire?
How do respondents rate themselves in this questionaire?
60
20 feminine , 20 masculine and 20 neutral
using a 7 point scale
If a person scored highly for masculine traits and low for feminine ones , they are classified as …
If a person scored low for both masculine and feminine traits they are said to be …
androgynous
undifferentiated
Give a strength of the BSRI as a way of measuring androgyny
+ it appears to be valid and reliable
V:1000 students completed the tests and scores correlated with the ppts description of their own gender identity
R:a smaller sample of same students got a similar score when they did the BSRI a month later which indicates a high test-retest reliability
Give 2 weaknesses of the BSRI as a measure of androgyny
-contradictory evidence , theres an association between androgyny and well being
researchers have argued that people are more psychologically healthy if they display masculine traits as these are more valued in western cultures , suggesting Bem’s research doesn’t account for social and cultural contexts
-historical bias
it was developed 50 years ago so behaviours that were typical in relation to gender have changed , therefore the BSRI may lack temporal validity
Give 2 other weaknesses of the BSRI as a measure of androgyny
-other ways of measuring gender
gender identity is too complex to be reduced to a score , researchers suggest broader issues should be considered eg job roles and interests
this suggests the BSRI is a very limited way of understanding gender identity
-methodological issues
ppts interpretation of meaning of words/each end of 7 point scale may differ and ppts may also suffer social desirability bias , meaning the BSRI may not be a valid way of measuring gender identity
