PSY3 Gender Flashcards
1
Q
Psychological:
Kholberg’s cognitive developmental theory
A
- Children active agents in own gender-role socialisation
- Related to Piaget’s ideas of maturation of mind/ conservation
- Gender labelling - gender identification based on outward appearance only
- Gender stability - gender consistent over time, but not across sitations; gender may change if person engages in different gender behaviour
-
Gender constancy - gender consistent across time and sitations, leads to interest in gender-appropriate info.
- But kids don’t begin collecting info until constancy achieved
2
Q
Evaluation for Kholberg’s cognitive developmental theory
A
-
Support for gender labelling and stability - Thomson: 2y/o 76% correct in labelling their gender; 3y/o 90% correct
- Support for idea gender identity develops over time.
-
Support for gender constancy - Slaby/Frey: kids in h. constancy groups spent more time looking at same-sex model than those in low group, when looking at models engaging in stereotypical behaviour
- Support idea constancy causes kids to pay attention to same-sex models.
-
Martin/Little - Kholberg wrong suggesting kids don’t begin collecting info of gender-role behaviour, before constancy achieved
- pre-schoolers had v. basic understanding of these issues, yet had well-formed beliefs of what boys/girls permitted to do
- only rudimentary understanding of gender needed before kids learn of approp-sex stereotypes.
-
Signif. of genital knowledge - Bem: genital knowledge more imp. in determining whether kids able to conserve gender
- Kids fail to recognise boys/girls remain boys/girls as don’t know what opposite-gender genitals look like
- Kids who misidentify toddler dressed in gender-inappropriate clothing, simply using salient clues available to them
- For pre-schooler, hair/clothing define gender, not genitals
-
IDA Cross-cultural research - Munroe: seq. of development of gender concept similar in other cultures (Kenya, Nepal, Belize)
- Cross-cultural biological development similar, lending credibility to claims that cognitive maturation more imp. than social exp, in gender concept development.
- IDA Other approaches important - only one aspect!
3
Q
Psychological:
Gender schema theory (Martin/Halverson)
A
- Kids begin to acquire knowledge of gender before constancy achieved.
- Kids gain gender identity at 2-3y/o when recognise they’re boy/girl
- at this stage, gender schema ext. simple, only consisting of boys/girls
- Own group viewed as ‘in-group’ and opposite viewed as ‘out-group’
- kids actively seek out info of approp. behaviour/actions of in-group - boys play close attention to boy-related toys etc, focus to find out about these
- girls mirror this behaviour in way consistent w/ their gender
- Kids look into their envrionment to develop/built on gender schemas to become inc. complex
- Toys (from being neutral) become categorised as boys/girls toys/games/activites.
4
Q
Evaluation of Gender schema theory
A
-
Fagot - 2y/o who can correctly label their gender, but who have no established clear concept of gender constancy, spend 80% of time in same-gender groups
- Suggests clear link b/w gender labelling and behaviour in absence of constancy.
-
Bradbard and in/out-group effects - pre-schoolers showed greater interest in gender neutral items if items were labelled as in-group items
- e.g pizza cutter labelled a ‘girl thing’, girls paid more attention to it than boys.
- Week later, kids able to recall more details of in-group obj than out-group obj. Tendency of kids paying attention to info seen as relevant to in-group seen early on.
-
Martin/Halverson - 6y/o able to recall more pics of gender constant schemas (male firefighter) compared w/ inconsistent pics (male nurse)
- processing info of social world heavily influenced by gender schemas from an early age
5
Q
Biological:
Role of genes in gender development
A
- Biological sex determined by X and Y chromosomes; males are XY, females XX
- Usually direct link b/w individual’s chromosomal sex (XX, XY) and their external genitalia.
- Genetic transmission explains how individuals acquire their sex.
- May explain some aspects of gender due to link b/w genes and genitalia and hormones.
6
Q
Biological:
Role of hormones in gender development
A
- **Androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS): **condition occurs when chromosomal males (XY) are insensitive to testosterone prod. by mum, prenatally in womb.
- As consequence, physical development of male genitalia restricted; boys w/ this cond. born w/ ambiguous external genitalia.
-
Cogenital adrenal hyperplasia: chromosomal females characterised by masculinsed identities/physical attributes.
- Thought to be caused by overprod. (prenatally) of corticosteroids, which have effect of mimicking androgens (testorsterone)
-
Brain development: sex differences in male/female brains (males spatial navigation; females; language/social skills).
- Sex differences caused by effects of testosterone expo. in developing brain.
- Male brains expo. prenatally to more testosterone than females, leads to development of masculinsed brain.
- If brain of female expo. to testorsterone prenatally, effect may be to masculinise the brain
- May explain why girls exposed pre-natally to male hormones grow up to be tomboyish
- If brain of female expo. to testorsterone prenatally, effect may be to masculinise the brain
7
Q
Evaluation for role of genes/hormones on gender development
A
-
Evidence for inter-sex individuals - Reiner/Gearhart: 16 males born w/ almost no penis (micro-penis syndrome) were raised as females.
-
majority rejected female gender designation - referred to living as males at an early opportunity
- Support view XY male brain’s masculinised, even if genitalia not!
-
majority rejected female gender designation - referred to living as males at an early opportunity
-
David Reimer - supports idea that prenatal genetic/hormonal factors had masculinised David’s brain to extent that he could never be able to successufully adopt female identity
- Problem w/ case - evidence from single individual; while h. suggestive of link b/w prenatal development and gender identity, other factors specific to Reimer’s story may have had imp. effect.
-
IDA Determinist! - inter-sex cond. associated w/ AIS/adrenal hyperplasia don’t automatically lead to gender identity issues
- Many born w/ masculinised/feminised genitalia/bodies usually accept gender designation suggested by chromosomal makeup
- while bio/’brain sex’ influenced bygenes/hormones, certainly interact w/ experiential (social/cultural) and cognitive factors to create individual’s sense of identity
- Many born w/ masculinised/feminised genitalia/bodies usually accept gender designation suggested by chromosomal makeup
-
IDA Real-world application - issue of bio determinism:
- previously, Int’l Olympics Committee excluded all but XX females/XY males - AIS couldn’t compete
- now, genetic sex would no longer determine entry to games - individuals only excluded from women’s events if they’re obviously physically male (Bown)
- genetic sex no longer determines gender!
8
Q
Evolutionary:
Division of labour
A
- All human cultures show gender-based division of labour
- Argued that it’s adaptive; useful for our survival/ inclusive fitness
- Evolutionary biologists suggests this is due to helpless cond. of human infants at birth; extended length of childhood, long gestation period: human females spend most of life either preg. of looking after h. dependent kids.
- It’s been hypothesised that sharp division of labour (men hunting, women nurturing) would be advantageous to our ancestors in EEA.
- Genes which push us towards greater divsion of labour would be maintained in population better than those that encourages more symmetrical roles.
9
Q
Evolutionary:
Differences in cognitive style - Emphathising-Systemising theory (Baron-Cohen)
A
- Females are more socially-oriented than males, w/ a more empathetic style
- Men better at systemising (understanding/building complex systems)
- These differences which appear to be universal, may be result of selective pressures in environment of evolutionary adaptation (EEA)
- A systemising mind gives males advantage in developing hunting strategies; empathising nature would cause women to take better care of offspring.
10
Q
Evolutionary:
Male and female mate choices
A
- Trivers pointed out that due to basic physical differences, men/women use different strategies to max reproductive potential
- Generally, women inc. reproductive success by choosing h. status male which controls sufficient resources to invest in her offspring
- A man can increase his reproductive success through polygyny or selecting fertile mate
- Men use physical characteristics as a guide to reproductive ability; women inc. their reproductive success by heavily investing in few offspring, responding positively to men who control resources
11
Q
Evaluation of evolutionary approach to gender
A
-
Research support for mate choices - Buss: consistent pref. b/w men/women
- emphasis on looks by men, earning-capacity by women held true in 37 cultures
- Wealthy/powerful women still sought powerful men; represent world population - universal?
- Buss criticised for misrep. rural/less educated; sample largely urban/ Westernised
- Americans comprised 20% of sample; EU over-represented too!
- Buss criticised for misrep. rural/less educated; sample largely urban/ Westernised
-
Problems w/ cross-cultural research (questionnaire data) - issue of degree to which data collected actually rep. behaviour of people of diff cultures e.g ppl don’t always rep. selves honestly in questionnaires; may not reveal complexity of human behaviour
- Results prone to social desirability as ppts may not answer truthfully to been seen in best light.
-
Evidence for differences in cognitive style - _Baron-Cohen’_s ‘Systematising Quotient Questionnaire’ found males teneded to be systematisers, females empathisers
- only 17% men had female empathising brain, same w/ women w/ male systematising brain.
-
IDA Limitations of evolutionary exp - focus on unobserable forces of EEA; the ultimate causes
- Though division of labour advantaged ancestors, forces that shape our own modern culture important; the proximate causes.
- Clear we live in a ‘patriarchal society’ which encourages sharp divsion of labour b/w men/women.
- Marxists argue this divsion was exploited by early capitalism; women staying at home provided support for men to go to work in factories in early industrial revolution.
- Thus, causes of divsion of labour not necessarily from ancestors, but from present.
- Though division of labour advantaged ancestors, forces that shape our own modern culture important; the proximate causes.
12
Q
Biosocial:
Biosocial theory (Money/Ehrhardt)
A
- Though persons gender identity stems from chromosomal makeup and bio sex, our biology interacts w/ our exp.
- Once biological male/female born, social labelling/differential treatment of boys/girls interact with biological factors (hormones/genes) to steer development
- theory attempts to integrate influences of natures/nurture
-
Rearing of sex is pivotal point in gender development:
- Money predicts if genetic male mislabelled a girl, treated as girl, before age 3, he would acquire gender identity of girl
- Thus key to gender development is label that person is given
13
Q
Biosocial:
Social role theory (Eagly/Woods)
A
- Selective pressures only cause physical differences, lead to sex role allocations, which in turn create psychological differences
- As women bear kids, care/nurturing of those kids would normally fall to women.
- As men have greater upper body strength, will normally dominate in activites that require strength.
- Theory proposes that what men/women seek in mate relate to social role, rather than reproductive value of certain traits (like evolutionary exp)
- Physical differences b/w man/woman create social roles - men providers, women take domestic role.
- Women max outcomes by selecting wealthy mate; men max outcomes by seeking mate successful in domestic role.
- Thus, different social roles explain sex differences in mate choice.
14
Q
Evalauation for biosocial theory
A
-
Buss’ research support for social role - Reanalysis of Buss’ studies of mate choice in 37 cultures show societies characterised by h. levels of gender equality, sex differences in mate choices were less pronounced
- when women had a h. status, and male-female division of labour was less pronounced, sex differences in mate pref. were less pronounced.
- social roles driving force in psychological sex differences.
-
Society context support for social role - West society moved into post-industrial era, work mostly knowledge-based.
- Thus, superior upper body strength of males becomes meaningless in most fields of human economic activity.
- Growth of social structures e.g nurseries, made women less bound to kids than earlier periods; clear indications that gender roles in West have converged (evidence of h. level occupational equality, legislative changes etc) - broadly support role of social factors over evolutionary.
- David Reimer challenges biosocial - He developed a masculine brain as exp. to testosterone at birth, despite being labelled/grown up as a girl.
- Support for dominance of bio factors over social.
- With study finding that social factos don’t contribute to gender development, theory lacks internal validity w/ is exp. challenged.
- IDA Determinist - fail to consider role of individual differences/free will & interaction w/ exp. etc, by suggesting bio & social factors determine gender identity.
- Acknowledges both bio and social factors - theory praised for being more holistic than others. Clearly, bio factors influential in shaping basic gender identity, but, diversity of gender role behaviour observed suggests social factors v. important too.
15
Q
Psychosocial explanation of gender dysphoria:
Psychodynamic approach
A
- Freud linked gender identity w/ Oedipus/Electra complexes
- Freud suggests all boys b/w 3-5 fear castration as punishment by a jealous father for desiring his mother
- Ovesey/Person developed this, pointing out that what makes the male transexual different is that his anxiety only ends when he’s castrated
- For transexual, penis is clear evidence of failure to physically fuse w/ his mother
- transexual seeks castration to physically become his own mum
