personality and gender Flashcards
is it okay to talk about gender differences in personality?
Steven Pinker: YES!
Liz Spelke: NO!
maybe slide
why is gender differences such a dengerous topic?
- acceptance of gender differences in ability could promote discrimination
-if young children belive in differences,could inhibit sucess/hard work (self-fulfilling prophecy)
gender difference in math and science
-varies by culture: most preminent in USA, where culture dictates that math is not cool for girls
-in the 80s, American middle school boys outperform girls at the highest ability level by 13 to 1 now it is 3 to 1
-gender difference only emerges after elementary school
but what about the progress of science ?
-do we need to talk about the possibility of gender differences in order to learn the scientific truth ?
or
does this kind of conversation inherently promotes problematic gender differences
the study : does telling women that they are genetically worse at math lower their math performance ?
if so, can it be fixed by saying that
a) no real gender difference
b)there is a difference, but it’s due to environmental causes
how it worked (the study)
- female pp read an essay
- condition 1 : Essays argue for a gender difference in math, due to GENETIC factors(summers conditions)
-condition 2: Essays argue for a gender difference in math, due to EXPERIMENTAL factors(spealk condition )
-condition 3: no essay,but prime gender (standard stereotype threat)-reminder of their gender
-condition 4 : Essay argue for NO GENDER DIFFERENCES
- participants do a math test,performance is assessed
results
1- women who read the essay that said it was due to environment did the best/performed better in the test
2-read essay about no gender difference
3-reminder of their gender
4-essay that it was genetic did the worst of all
why is that?
if is due to genetics their is a lack of control, no matter what they do they will never suppress it
but if due to experience, just because is someone else’s experience doesn’t mean I cant fight against it , I have control and motivation to do better
gender difference in personality
positive effects mean men > women (more then women)
the biggest ones : assertivness,agressivness,
the lesser one / they have less: tender-mindness, anxiety,order,trust gregariousness
gender difference in emotion
women experience more negative emotions
-greater frequency and intensity
women score higher on measures of empathy
is there a gender difference in aggression ?
util age 2, No (some evidence has showed that playgrounds dominated by girls are more aggressive)
by age 4-5 . boys shows higher aggression
by adolacense boy are much more aggressive
- and conduct more problems, higher delenquacy
conduct disorder are 6-10 times more common in boys
men commit more crime across culture
who commits more homicide ?
men are 10 times more likely to commit murder
more likely against other men, and after that against women
women killing another women is very low
boys who were more agressive at 8 years of old were more likely to be convicted as criminals
the frequency of watching tv at age 8 (probably because of violence on the media) correlated with being convicted by 30 years of age
explanation of gender fifference in agression
girls show agression differently than boys:
- girls:relational aggression
-boys:overt aggression
overt agression
more likey in boys
-physical assault and verbal assault