Sex and Gender Flashcards
What is meant by the term ‘sex’?
A biological term- refers to whether we are male or female and is determined by chromosomes, hormones or anatomical differences
What is gender?
A psychological term- refers to roles, attitudes and behaviours associated with males or females
What is gender?
A psychological term- refers to roles, attitudes and behaviours associated with males or females
What is androgyny?
A term used to describe people who have qualities which are both masculine and feminine
What did Bem do in her study about androgyny?
Gave lists to a panel of judges to sort out which traits were said to be masculine or feminine or neutral
then made a questionnaire of 20 of each traits and asked people to rate from 1-7 how much they think they had those traits
Masculine - independent and aggressive
Feminine - gentle
Neutral - friendly
Evaluation of Bem’s study
Questionnaire - prone to lying, so wrong conclusions could be made
The panel were American students so therefore the results can’t be generalised to the rest of the world because there could be different scores
Oversimplified - reducing masculine and feminine traits to a single score is much more complex than a rate on a questionnaire
What is sex role stereotyping?
A fixed belief about what to expect of males and females
E.g. Females are good at looking after children
Overemphasises similarities between individuals of the same groups
Describe seavey’s study
- 3 month old infant, dressed in yellow
- 1/3 of the participants were told he was male, 1/3 female, and 1/3 no gender was told
- they were told to interact with the child for around 3 minutes with either a ball (male), rag doll (female) or plastic ring (neutral)
- when the child was labelled female, the doll was played with and when make the ring was played with
- the females interacted freely whereas the males held back and didn’t.
- adults will interact differently depending on what their beliefs of the gender of the child
Evaluation points of Seavey’s study
- it was conducted in a lab so therefore lacks ecological validity
- could have a possibility of demand characteristics as the participants may have changed their behaviour to suit the aim
- a ball is now seen as a neutral toy, not male toy.
Describe urbergs study
Children’s gender stereotypes
- 3,5,7 year olds heard stories in which the characters sex were unspecified but showed traits such as bravery and gentleness.
- they were then asked who would show this trait, males, females or none.
- all children answered according to stereotypes, clear beliefs about characteristics of typical males or females
Evaluation of urbergs study
Lacks ecological validity - not normal for children to be asked about stories in real life
- laboratory study
Just because the children are aware of the stereotypes, doesn’t mean they hold them
Describe meads study (cultural variations in gender related behaviour)
Studies differences in gender roles in three different societies in New Guinea
Arapesh - gentle and cooperative (feminine)
Mundugamor- aggressive (masculine)
Tchambuli- distinct - opposite to western societies
Shows differences across cultures
Evaluation of mead’s study
- unscientific and lacking ecological validity because the tribes may have not been acting naturally
- may have been biased as mead expected to find cultural differences which may have affected her operations
- ethical issues - presence may have caused distress to tribes as there was no interpreter with her
- may have purposely chosen the tribes to fit into her study
- 1930s: less was understood
What is the nature nurture debate?
To what the extent to which our behaviour is governed by the forces of biology and experiences or the environment
What is the nature side of the debate?
Suggests that gender related behaviour is entirely controlled by hormonal/genetic factors
What is the nurture side of the debate?
Suggests that gender related behaviour is entirely determined by social factors and the environment
What does interactionist mean?
Some gender related behaviour is governed by biological makeup but innate predisposition can be modified by the environment
Which side is the biological approach on?
Nature
Which side is the social learning theory on?
Nurture
Which side is cognitive on?
Nature - development of understanding depends on biological maturing but also experience so nurture
Which side is psychodynamic on?
Nature- depends on combination of instinctive biological forces but childhood experience (nurture)
Describe turners syndrome
Only one X chromosome on the 23rd pair
- webbed neck
- constriction of the aorta (heart)
- poor breast development
- under developed ovaries
- lack of menstruation
- poor spatial and mathematical abilities
Describe Klinefelter’s syndrome
Additional X chromosome on the 23rd pair
- poor beard growth
- breast development
- under developed testes
- poor language abilities
- shy and passive
Describe the rat study of the biological approach
To see if male rats show more aggression than females
- castrated male rats show less aggression
- females injected with testosterone lead to an increase
Disadvantages of rat studies
Difficult to apply to humans as we have different cognitive abilities
Unclear how they measured the changes in testosterone
What are hormones?
Chemical substances secreted by the glands in the body which cause males and females to behave and think differently
What is congenital adrenal hyperplasia?
Rare condition affecting males and females
High levels of male hormones
Females - tomboys, high levels of aggression, super spatial awareness
ONLY A SMALL NUMBER HAVE BEEN STUDIED
Describe Dabb’s study
Investigated the link between testosterone levels, prisoner behaviours and crimes committed
Saliva of 692 prisoners were tested for testosterone levels
High testosterone - violent/sexual crimes
Low testosterone - drug/burglary
ONLY MALES WERE STUDIED
Evaluation of testosterone
- Increased levels of testosterone maybe the consequence of behaviour and not the cause
- Oversimplified- explaining aggression in terms of chemical activity, other factors could influence aggression
- Environmental factors; family background influence how people respond in frustrating situations
What is oestrogen?
The female hormone which is responsible for development of female sexual characteristics
What is PMS?
Pre-menstrual syndrome which leads to an increase in emotionality, irritability and aggression.
Leads to lack of attention and self-control and committing criminal acts
Describe Money’s study
Studied a child whose sex was re-assigned to see if he could be raised as a boy. A 7 month twin boy called Bruce was given oestrogen and operations to create female gentials as his penis was burnt off accidentally. At 12, Bruce stopped taking his pills and changed back to a man when he was older
Evaluation of Money’s study
Bruce had a twin brother which we could compare himself against
There were many ethical issues, Bruce was distressed
The researchers beliefs affected the interpretation of his behaviour
Difficult to generalise findings as was only carried out on one boy
Evaluation of biological explanation of gender
- Ignorance of the environment
- Highly scientific - research is replicable and can be generalised universally
- High level of research to support changes in behaviour as a result of hormones - animals, more ethical
- Applying animals to human behaviour is difficult as humans have different cognitive abilities
Explain the Oedipus Complex
A boy experiences unconscious sexual desires towards his mother and is in fear of his father castrating him. To stop anxiety, the boy identifies with his father and copies him, resolving the complex as there is a strong sense of male identity
Explain the electra complex
A girl experiences unconscious sexual desires towards her father and has penis envy, believing that her mother has already castrated her, losing her love. She identifies with her mother to reduce conflict and gain female identity
Explain Little Hans study
A son of a friend of Freud had developed a fear of horses at the age of 4 years old. He was especially afraid of large white horses with black around its mouth and afraid they might bite him. Freud interpreted the child anxiety as expressing the Oedipus complex where he had an unconscious fear of his father who had a full dark beard. Bitten - castrated
What happens to children who were not brought up with both a mother or father present, according to Freud?
Have a problem with their gender identity
Describe Greens study into children living in atypical households
37 children between 3 and 20 from homosexual or transexual families were studied.
Various measures of gender identity were taken such as clothing
Found that all children expect one showed gender typical preferences
Shows that presence of two parents is not needed to develop a secure gender identity
Evaluation of psychodynamic explanation of gender
Oedipus and electra complex are controversial as many people find the notion of childhood sexuality difficult to accept
Children have an understanding of gender before the age of 5
Little evidence - only 1 case study, no generalisation
Subjective- complexes were from self analysis
Ignores role of biology
Explain Kohlberg’s cognitive theory
Believed that the mind develops in set stages related to age
Argued a child’s understanding of gender will increase in line with cognitive abilities
Gets more sophisticated as you get older
What is the first stage of kolhbergs theory
Gender identity - 2 to 3 years
Begin to think of gender
Able to say if they are a boy or a girl
Gender is a label
What is the second stage of kohlbergs theory
Understand their sex won’t Change
Fooled by appearance - man in a dress is a woman
What is the third stage of kohlbergs theory
Gender constancy 4-7 years
Gender is constant and no longer fooled by outside a appearance
Masculine or feminine doesn’t change sex
Describe slaby and Freys study to test kohlbergs theory
Asked young children a series of questions
Gender identity- photos - male or female?
Gender stability - asking what they want to be when they grow up
Gender constancy- asked children whether they would be a boy or s girl if they wore opposite sex clothes
Results were consistent with kolhbergs theory
Evaluation of kolhbergs
Has been applied to different cultures
Gender schema has found children actively try to construct an understanding what it is to be male or female whereas kolhbergs said only when you get to gender constancy stage they identify their own sex
Doesn’t explain how it happens
Ignores that children develop at different rates
What is a gender schema?
Unit of knowledge consisting of information such as appropriate behaviours, characteristics, occupations and roles for males and females
Describe the gender schema theory
As soon as child can label their own sex at around 2 years old, they actively search their environment for information to increase their understanding of their own gender - they use this to decide how to behave as a boy or a girl
Examples of gender schema
Finding appropriate jobs and toys/activities, ignore the rest which isn’t associated
Describe halversons stages of the gender schema
Stage one- learning what attitudes and behaviours are usually associated with each sex
Stage two- making links between different aspects of the schema for their own sex (plays with cars, short hair and wears trousers-boy)
Stage three- children make links for gender schema for both sexesd
Explain Boston and Levy’s study
See if knowledge about stereotypically activities were different between boys and girls
Aged 3-6 year old children were given a sequence of 4 pictures of an activity (cooking-girls building a birdhouse-boys) as were asked to put them in order
Boys and girls put set in order more accurately for their own gender
Children have more knowledge of own gender based activities
Evaluation of gender schema theory
Explains why children don’t automatically copy a same sex model but see if behaviour is appropriate
Boys have been found to show more extreme gender behaviour than girls - gender schema theory can’t explain this
According to cognitive theories, greed understanding starts at the age of 2, so doesn’t explain why children chose to play with particular toys before this
Explain fagot’s study
Where parents treated male/female toddlers differently. 24 toddlers aged 20-24 months were observed,recorded reinforcements and punishments.
Girls were reinforced when staying near parents and dressing up
Boys were reinforced for playing with sex appropriate toys
Encourage gender appropriate behaviours
Evaluation of Fagot’s study
Demand characteristics - knew they were being studied
Small sample of children
Describe Perry and bussey’s study
Children saw 4 males and 4 females choosing between a banana or an apple
All females chose one item, men chose the other
After observing, the children were asked which one they preferred.
They preferred the item that had been chosen by the adults of their own sex
Children imitate behaviour of their own sex
What is identification?
A child sees themselves as similar to a specific person who has attractive qualities
Evaluation of SLT explanation of gender
Doesn’t consider changes in development of gender
Assumes there is no process of gradual development and that gender changed over time
Many studies are unrealistic and lack ev
Theory neglects biology
Cross cultural studies support SLT as tender differences are learned as behaviour is
