Lesson 4

Question 1

The three theories on Gender

Answer 1

Psychological Response, Sociological Response, Biological Perspective

Question 2

According to Freud, what is the primary source of human behavior?

Answer 2

The unconscious mind.

Question 3

What does psychodynamic theory emphasize in terms of gender development?

Answer 3

The influence of an individual’s relationship with other people.

Question 4

How is an infant’s sense of self and gender identity developed according to psychodynamic theory?

Answer 4

Through internalization of the views of other people around them.

Question 5

What developmental paths do male and female infants follow according to psychodynamic theory?

Answer 5

Distinct paths that reflect their relationship with their mothers.

Question 6

According to psychodynamic theorists, what is fundamental in the formation of identity?

Answer 6

The identity formed in infancy.

Question 7

Does the psychodynamic theory of identity suggest that identity is static or fixed in the early years of life?

Answer 7

No, identity continues to grow and change throughout life.

Question 8

At which stage of psychosexual development does psychodynamic theory suggest that gender identity and role are acquired?

Answer 8

The phallic stage.

Question 9

How does the social world impact the inclinations we are born with?

Answer 9

The social world amplifies or tones down those inclinations.

Question 9

What is the focus of libido during the phallic stage of development?

Answer 9

The genitals.

Question 10

How does social learning theory view gender identity and role?

Answer 10

As a set of behaviors learned from the environment.

Question 11

What does social learning theory emphasize in the development of gender?

Answer 11

The influence of an individual’s relationship with other people.

Question 12

According to social learning theory, how do individuals learn to be masculine or feminine?

Answer 12

By imitating others and getting responses from others to their behaviors.

Question 13

How do people around individuals influence children’s behaviors according to social learning theory?

Answer 13

They reward only some of the children’s behaviors, and reinforced behaviors tend to be repeated.

Question 14

What does social learning theory suggest about the reinforcement process?

Answer 14

It continues throughout life with messages that reinforce femininity in women and masculinity in men.

Question 15

What influence is emphasized in the development of gender according to cognitive development theory?

Answer 15

The influence of an individual’s relationship with other people.

Question 15

What role do cognitive psychologists emphasize in the development of gender identity and roles?

Answer 15

The role of thinking processes.

Question 16

How do changes in gender role behavior reflect changes in children’s understanding of gender according to cognitive development theory?

Answer 16

They reflect changes in how children understand and think about gender.

Question 16

How does cognitive development theory differ from social learning theory in terms of learning gender identities?

Answer 16

Cognitive development theory assumes that children play active roles in developing their gender identities.

Question 17

What does Kohlberg’s stage theory of gender development propose?

Answer 17

A child’s understanding of gender moves forward in stages.

Question 18

At what age is the first stage of gender identity usually reached, and what happens during this stage?

Answer 18

By the age of 2 years; the child is able to correctly label its own sex.

Question 19

What is the second stage of gender development, and at what age is it usually reached?

Answer 19

Gender stability, usually reached by the age of 4 years.

Question 20

What is the third stage of gender development, and what does the child understand during this stage?

Answer 20

Gender constancy; the child starts to understand that gender is independent of external features. This stage is usually reached by the age of 7 years.

Question 21

What are females socialized to value according to cognitive development theory?

Answer 21

Connections with others, communication of care and responsiveness, and preservation of relationships.

Question 22

What are males more likely to be socialized to value according to cognitive development theory?

Answer 22

Autonomy and communication that preserves their independence from others.

Question 23

How do individuals decide to act in relation to society's expectations of their gender?

Answer 23

Most decide to act in ways that are consistent with social views of gender.

Question 24

This theory views gender identity and role as a set of behaviors learned from the environment and emphasizes the role of imitation and reinforcement in the learning process.

Answer 24

Social Learning Theory

Question 25

According to this theory, the unconscious mind is the primary source of human behavior, and an infant's relationship with their mother is fundamental to the formation of their identity.

Answer 25

Psychodynamic Theory

Question 26

This theory emphasizes how children gather and make sense of information about gender and proposes that a child's understanding of gender moves through stages over time.

Answer 26

Cognitive Development Theory

Question 27

In this theory, changes in gender role behavior reflect changes in how children understand and think about gender, and it assumes that children play active roles in developing their gender identities.

Answer 27

Cognitive Development Theory

Question 28

This theory claims that gender identity and role are acquired during the phallic stage of psychosexual development and that the first relationship an infant forms influences their gender identity.

Answer 28

Psychodynamic Theory

Question 29

This theory suggests that the reinforcement process continues throughout life, with messages reinforcing femininity in women and masculinity in men.

Answer 29

Social Learning Theory

Question 30

This theory highlights the influence of an individual's relationship with other people in the development of gender and focuses on interactions with others to define themselves.

Answer 30

Cognitive Development Theory

Question 31

This theory views social world influences as amplifying or toning down the inclinations we are born with and emphasizes that people reward certain behaviors, reinforcing them over time.

Answer 31

Social Learning Theory

Question 32

According to this theory, identity is formed in infancy and is fundamental, and as infants mature, they carry with them a basic identity formed in the pivotal first relationship with their mothers.

Answer 32

Psychodynamic Theory

Question 33

This theory suggests that most females are socialized to value connections with others, while males are more likely to be socialized to value autonomy and independence from others.

Answer 33

Cognitive Development Theory

Question 34

What perspective views society as made up of interdependent parts?

Answer 34

Functionalism

Question 35

What is maintained by assigning different tasks to men and women in preindustrial societies?

Answer 35

Social equilibrium

Question 36

What role did men typically perform in preindustrial societies?

Answer 36

Hunting and gathering, bringing food to the family

Question 37

What role did women typically perform in preindustrial societies?

Answer 37

Domestic roles near the home, caretaking

Question 38

What role did children typically perform in preindustrial societies?

Answer 38

Helping with agricultural and domestic activities

Question 39

What can too much deviation from traditional roles lead to in functionalism?

Answer 39

Imbalance in the family system

Question 40

What is difficult for functionalism to account for?

Answer 40

Variety of existing family systems and rapid social change

Question 41

What has functionalism been used as a justification for?

Answer 41

Male dominance and gender stratification

Question 42

What element is important for restoring equilibrium in society according to functionalism?

Answer 42

Social control mechanisms

Question 43

What can functionalism emphasize in terms of gender roles?

Answer 43

Traditional gender roles and conservatism

Question 44

What perspective is conflict theory often referred to as?

Answer 44

Social conflict theory

Question 45

How is social order preserved according to conflict theory?

Answer 45

Involuntarily through the exercise of power one social class holds over another.

Question 46

Who are the main originators of conflict theory?

Answer 46

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

Question 47

What does conflict theory suggest about the master-slave or exploiter-exploited relationships in broader society?

Answer 47

They are translated into the household.

Question 48

What function of the family does conflict theory focus on?

Answer 48

The social placement function.

Question 49

How does patriarchal and patrilineal systems influence the distribution of wealth according to conflict theory?

Answer 49

They concentrate wealth in the hands of males and promote female subservience, neglect, and poverty.

Question 50

What can strengthen women's power inside the home according to conflict theory?

Answer 50

Gaining economic strength by being wage earners.

Question 51

What has conflict theory been criticized for overemphasizing?

Answer 51

The economic basis of inequality and the assumption of inevitable competition between family members.

Question 52

What does conflict theory tend to dismiss regarding task allocation in families?

Answer 52

The consensus among wives and husbands.

Question 53

What can conflict theory sometimes suggest about men as a group?

Answer 53

That they are consciously organized to keep women in subordinate positions.

Question 54

What is another name for the symbolic interaction perspective?

Answer 54

The interactionist perspective

Question 54

A dynamic process in which people continually modify their behavior as a result of the interaction itself.

Answer 54

social interaction

Question 55

What level of sociological view does symbolic interaction focus on?

Answer 55

Micro level

Question 56

How do people interact according to symbolic interaction?

Answer 56

According to how they perceive a situation, how they understand the social encounter, and the meanings they bring to it.

Question 57

What do cultural norms offer according to symbolic interactionists?

Answer 57

General guidelines for role behavior.

Question 58

What latitude do we have in the way we act out our roles according to symbolic interactionists?

Answer 58

Latitude to modify our behavior based on subjective meanings and perceptions.

Question 59

What do symbolic interactionists refer to the shaping process as?

Answer 59

The social construction of reality.

Question 60

What do symbolic interactionists contend regarding concepts like race, ethnicity, and gender?

Answer 60

They do not exist objectively but emerge through a socially constructed process.

Question 61

Who developed a dramaturgy approach to social interaction that symbolic interaction takes its lead from?

Answer 61

Erving Goffman

Question 62

How are gender roles structured according to symbolic interaction?

Answer 62

By one set of scripts designed for males and another designed for females.

Question 63

What does feminist theory aim to understand?

Answer 63

Gender inequality

Question 64

What does feminist theory focus on besides gender inequality?

Answer 64

Gender politics, power relations, and sexuality.

Question 65

How does feminist theory align with conflict theory?

Answer 65

It asserts that structured social inequality is maintained by ideologies accepted by both the privileged and the oppressed.

Question 66

What is the goal of feminists in terms of women's empowerment?

Answer 66

Increasing women's empowerment to allow them to exert control over their own destinies.

Question 67

What practical benefits may women in patriarchal marriages perceive according to the feminist perspective?

Answer 67

Important economic resources and social support.

Question 68

What critique does the feminist perspective tend to minimize?

Answer 68

The practical benefits of marriages.

Question 69

What do feminist scholars find difficult to reconcile in terms of traditional and egalitarian marriages?

Answer 69

Research suggesting that women in traditional marriages are as satisfied with their choices as women in egalitarian marriages.

Question 70

What is the primary function of the Y chromosome?

Answer 70

To determine that a fertilized egg will evolve into a male.

Question 71

What does the X chromosome control?

Answer 71

A lot more than sex determination, including genes controlling intelligence and the primary gene responsible for social skills.

Question 72

Where are several genes controlling intelligence located?

Answer 72

Only on the X chromosomes.

Question 73

What hormone regulates the menstrual cycle in females?

Answer 73

Estrogen.

Question 74

What role does testosterone play in males?

Answer 74

It plays a key role in the development of male reproductive tissues and promotes secondary sexual characteristics.

Question 74

What hormone supports pregnancy in females?

Answer 74

Progesterone.

Question 75

What is the primary sex hormone in males?

Answer 75

Testosterone.

Question 75

What are the effects of higher levels of testosterone in males?

Answer 75

They are linked to aggressive and impulsive behavior, jockeying for power, attempts to influence or dominate others, and physical expressions of anger.

Question 76

What lobe of the brain do men tend to specialize in?

Answer 76

The left lobe.

Question 77

What lobe of the brain do women tend to specialize in?

Answer 77

The right lobe.

Question 78

Why are men more impulsive than women?

Answer 78

Men have larger amygdala and more testosterone.

Question 79

What brain structures in women explain their less impulsive nature and indirect aggression?

Answer 79

The early and larger development of their prefrontal cortex, as well as the larger insula.

Question 80

What ability do women have in terms of brain function?

Answer 80

Women have a great ability to use the corpus callosum, connecting both sides of the brain and accessing distinct capabilities of both lobes.