sex and gender

Question 1

define sex

Answer 1

biologically male/female

Question 2

define gender

Answer 2

way someone acts and identify themselves

-behavioural characteristics make you masculine/feminine

Question 3

sex-roles

Answer 3

behaviour expected form man and woman

Question 4

sex-roles stereotypes

Answer 4

ideas about sex roles widely held and tend to be inflexible and over generalised

Question 5

research in sex-roles stereotypes

Answer 5

seavey 
3-months-old introduced as :
girl
boy
a baby
-pps behaviour were different
-used sex-stereotyped toys (doll for girls)

Question 6

who is someone said to be if it has a balanced combination of masculinity and femininity

Answer 6

androgynous

Question 7

who and how investigated androgyny

Answer 7

bem
used a self-report questionnaire ‘bet sex role inventory’
50f & 50m students rated personality traits as masculine/feminine
the most highly rated were used to form a questionnaire to measure the stereotypical traits of individuals
-rate form 1 to 7

Question 8

what did bem think of high masculinity and femininity

Answer 8

• said to be psychologically androgynous

- advantageous in society, can cope with a range of situations

Question 9

study on psychological androgyny

Answer 9

suggest that environmental factors are the cause:

• compared children raised in family that emphasises traditional gender roles and family that downplay them
• second one had higher androgyny

Question 10

weaknesses of bem theory

Answer 10

-argued that androgyny is a life choice because is advantageous
-the questionnaire is reductionist, reduces masculinity and femininity in a single score
and is outdated (1974)

Question 11

how do the biological influences on gender explain gender differences

Answer 11

brain development\activity:

• chromosomes
• hormones

Question 12

how many chromosomes do human have

Answer 12

23 pairs

Question 13

what is special about the 23rd?

Answer 13

decide whether you turn female or male
-XX female, ova contain an X chromosome
-XY male, sperm may contain either X or Y chromosome
if ovum is fertilised with Y carrying chromosome offspring will be male XY

Question 14

what does the gene in Y chromosome cause

Answer 14

male genitalia

production of testosterone

Question 15

what does testosterone affect, what may this explain?

Answer 15

affects brain development

• creating structural differences
• may explain gender

Question 16

arguments on testosterone affecting the brain

Answer 16

• may affect structure but not function
• combined effect of hormonal and structural differences thought to lead to similar brain function
• hyde found in a meta-analysis that there was no difference or very small supporting that male and females are psychologically similar

Question 17

what is chromosomal variation?

Answer 17

atypical sex chromosome patterns

Question 18

which are the two syndromes with atypical chromosome patterns?

Answer 18

• klinefelter’s syndrome

- turner’s syndrome

Question 19

what klinefelter’s syndrome?

Answer 19

-males XXY
-sterile
tend to be less muscular
less facial\body hair
problems at using language
trouble with social interaction

Question 20

what is turner’s syndrome?

Answer 20

-females X or missing a part of second chromosome
-tend to be shorter
ovaries not to work (sterile)
don’t have a usual puberty
often do less well at maths
porer spatial ability

Question 21

what do hormones affect?

Answer 21

development of brain body and how they function

Question 22

which hormones do males\females have?

Answer 22

m - androgens, testosterone
f - oestrogen
both present but in very different amount

Question 23

what is the syndrome with more testosterone called? how does it affect males and females?

Answer 23

CAH syndrome
males - early sexual development
females - more masculine physically and in behaviours
- fast grow, early puberty
- physical abnormalities, ambiguous genitalia

Question 24

what does CAH syndrome supports?

Answer 24

testosterone theory, is responsible of gender differences in behaviour

Question 25

what can oestrogen lead to?

Answer 25

premenstrual tension

• feeling emotional, irritable, aggressive
• could be the reason behind some women crime

Question 26

which hormone other than testosterone and oestrogen is an influence on gender

Answer 26

oxytocin

Question 27

what is oxytocin associated with?

Answer 27

bonding attachment and social recognition

Question 28

research in oxytocin

Answer 28

increased oxytocin on male improved facial recognition but didn’t-t improve for non social recognition

Question 29

how does oestrogen interact with oxytocin ?

Answer 29

increase the effect

more impact in females brain

Question 30

what could oxytocin explain

Answer 30

gender differences in sociability and gender roles eg. parenting