Sex & Gender

Question 1

Sex & Gender

Answer 1

• Key aspects of personality, including self-concept and identity
• Sex: biological categories based on physical attributes (ie. Male, female, intersex)
• Gender: attitudes, feelings, and behaviours that a given culture associated with a person’s biological sex; socially constructed (ie. Woman/man, boy/girl, feminine/masculine)

Question 2

Gender identity

Answer 2

• A person’s deeply-felt inherent sense of being a man, a woman, or an alternative gender; may not correspond with sex
• Ex. Transgender, cisgender, genderqueer, two-spirited, etc.
• Like sexual orientation, oftentimes a binary concept
• But research supports validity of other gender identities and expressions that don’t fit the binary
• Both environmental and biological factors at play
• Not a matter of choice or confusion

Question 3

Gender expression

Answer 3

• A person’s presentation and expressed behaviours that communicate aspects of their gender or gender role (ex. Clothing)
• Ex. Masculine/feminine, androgynous, butch/femme

Question 4

sexual orientation & sexual identity

Answer 4

• Involve sexual and emotional attraction to others based on their sex or gender
• depends on multiple factors, both environmental and genetic
• Note that sexual orientation and sexual identity don’t always match (ie. A man who has sex with other men may still identify as straight)
• Ex. Straight, lesbian, gay, bi, asexual, pansexual, etc.

Question 5

the binary of sexual orientation (& Kinsey Scale)

Answer 5

• Still a binary concept -> people often assume everyone is either straight or gay
• • Leads to stigma and discrimination against bisexual people
• Kinsey Scale was developed to break the binary -> provides more of a continuum to sexuality
• • Being 100% straight on this scale is rare
• • Younger generations are identifying more in the middle

Question 6

influence of gender identity and/or sexual orientation on self-concept

Answer 6

not being cisgender (or straight) may create a disconnect between their “ought” self and their “ideal” self -> implications for authenticity

Question 7

Olson et al. study: transgender children’s cognitions

Answer 7

• transgender children showed patterns of gender cognition consistent with their expressed gender (no signs of confusion)
• provided evidence that transgender youth are statistically the same as cisgender children of the same gender identity

Question 8

intersectionality

Answer 8

• The study of intersecting, overlapping social identities and labels; and related systems of discrimination and oppression
• Ex. trans women of colour

Question 9

Malala case study: intersectionality

Answer 9

• Gender: targeted for being a girl
• Region: her specific city in Pakistan was being targeted
• Age: rose to prominence and had so much influence partially due to age
• Class: Her experiences were likely in part due to her higher social class

Question 10

limitations re: studies of sex and gender

Answer 10

• Insufficient attention to intersectionality
• Reliance on cisgender men and women; sex and gender binaries
• Possible exaggeration of sex differences and reinforcement of stereotypes
• • Variance is greater within genders than between genders
• Psychology research has often been inconsistent/inattentive to language surrounding sex differences (male and female) compared to gender differences (men and women)

Question 11

2 ways to measure sex differences

Answer 11

• meta-analyses

- effect size/d-statistic

Question 12

effect size/d-statistic

Answer 12

• Used to express the difference in standard deviation units
• Effect size can be calculated for each study of sex differences, then averaged across studies to give an objective assessment of the difference
• .20 = small, .50 = medium, .80 = learge
• Positive d means men are higher, negative d means women are higher
• Don’t necessarily have implications for any one individual; most differences are small and statistics should not be used to exaggerate the differences between the sexes

Question 13

Sex differences: Big 5 (main traits and narrow traits)

Answer 13

• Extraversion: no difference (but males higher in assertiveness and activity, females higher in enthusiasm and gregariousness)
• Agreeableness: females higher than males (and higher in compassion, politeness, trust, and tender-mindedness)
• Conscientiousness: no difference (and no difference in industriousness, though females higher in orderliness)
• Neuroticism: females higher than males (and higher on volatility and impulsiveness); biggest difference in Big 5
• Openness/intellect: no overall difference (but males higher in intellect component, females higher in openness)

Question 14

sex differences in emotion

Answer 14

• Females experience more positive and negative emotions (greater frequency and intensity), except pride (experienced equally) and guilt (fairly equal)
• Females score higher on measures of empathy
• After puberty, females show depression 2-3x more than males (females ruminate more, which contributes to depression)

Question 15

sex differences in aggression

Answer 15

• By age 4 or 5, young males show higher aggression; peaks in teens/twenties and declines during 50s
• • In adulthood, d = .40-.86
• Across cultures, males are more aggressive, as assessed on personality tests, in fantasies, and in manifest behaviour
• ~95% of homicides are convicted by men; victims likely to be men
• However, girls may show aggression differently than boys

Question 16

overt vs. relational aggression

Answer 16

• Overt aggression: physical assault (hitting) and verbal assault (yelling, insulting) -> higher in males
• Relational aggression: excluding others; spreading false rumours -> higher in females
• Shows that there may not be a true difference in aggression between genders; rather, differences in social factors influencing how to express aggression

Question 17

sex differences in self-esteem

Answer 17

• male and female self-esteem increases with age
• males are consistently higher in self-esteem throughout the lifespan (including childhood and adolescence), but gap closes with age
• • This is consistent across most countries
• • Could be due to early objectification and sexualization of girls, higher beauty standards of girls, negative stereotypes about women’s abilities, young girl’s body changes during puberty are more visible to others, etc.

Question 18

Masculinity-Femininity research: 1930s

Answer 18

• In the 1930s, researchers assumed sex differences on various personality items were attributable to differences along the single dimension of masculinity-femininity
• Later found that some people score high on both masculinity (assertive, bold, etc.) and femininity (nurturing, expressive) -> “androgyny”
• Others score low on both masculinity and femininity -> “undifferentiated”

Question 19

Masculinity-Femininity research: 1970s

Answer 19

• In the 1970s, researchers challenged the assumption of the single dimension, instead arguing that masculinity and femininity might be independent and separable
• Those who scored high on both were labelled androgynous, to reflect the notion that a person could have both masculine and feminine characteristics (also undifferentiated)
• The construct and its measure were controversial
• • e.g., Suggested that androgyny was most adaptive (had best of both worlds)

Question 20

Masculinity-Femininity research: today

Answer 20

• Today, reinterpreted as extent to which you fulfill your sex-role expectations; removes association with gender
• • Masculinity -> instrumentality/agency (working with objects, being independent, getting tasks completed directly, etc)
• • Femininity -> expressiveness/communion (ease with which you express emotions, are empathetic, and nurturing)

Question 21

Gender schemas

Answer 21

• according to Sandra Bem, gender schemas -> cognitive orientations that lead people to process information through a sex-linked perspective
• according to Bem, it’s better to be gender-aschematic (not consider gender when processing info) than androgynous

Question 22

Malala case study: Gender stereotyping

Answer 22

Gets recognition for breaking her gender stereotypes (ie. By being defiant)

Question 23

gender schematization

Answer 23

• The process of forming and shaping gender schemas – notions of what men and women should be like
• Very prominent in marketing

Question 24

study: children and sex-specific toy preference

Answer 24

• On average, very young children tend to exhibit sex-specific preferences in toys prior to capacity to be socialized
• • Ex. Boys display visual preference for trucks compared to girls, girls display visual preference for dolls compared to boys
• However, within samples (ie. Within boys and within girls), both genders showed a higher preference for dolls
• Boys and girls also showed no difference in colour preference (ie. Pink, red)
• • Shows that colour preference is socialized based on gender

Question 25

theories of sex differences

Answer 25

• socialization theories
• hormonal theories
• differences in brain connectivity
• evolutionary perspectives
• integrated theoretical perspecive

Question 26

sex differences: socialization theories

Answer 26

• Males are reinforced by parents, teachers, and the media for being “masculine” and females for being “feminine” -> leads to males and females becoming different over time
• ex. Bandura’s social learning theory (kids learn by observing behaviours of same-sex others)
• social role theory: Sex differences arise because males and females are distributed differently into different occupational and family roles (ie. men expected to take on breadwinner role) -> support includes evidence that both sexes become more dominant when put in supervisory roles (and vice versa), but theory is contracted in some egalitarian societies where men take on feminine roles, but sex differences still exist
• BUT socialization does not fully explain gender (ex. Bruce)

Question 27

Study: “Gender Gate” & Bruce

Answer 27

• Dr. Money’s theory of Gender Gate -> argued that a child’s gender is fluid before age of 2
• Case study: Bruce, whose botched circumcision led him to undergo gender reassignment surgery to be female -> negative psychological outcomes, died by suicide

Question 28

sex differences: hormonal theories

Answer 28

• Hormonal, physiological differences cause boys and girls to diverge over development
• • Following puberty, there is little similarity in levels of circulating testosterone (with men having 10x more)
• • Sex differences in testosterone linked with traditional sex differences in behaviour, such as aggression, dominance, career choice, and sexual desire (but sex desire is only for women)
• • But the link between hormones and behaviour is bi-directional (T results from and causes behaviour)

Question 29

sex differences: differences in brain connectivity

Answer 29

• Using brain scanning technology, examined brains of females and males
• Patterns of connectivity in the brain differ on average -> males, connections are stronger from front to back; females, connections are stronger between r and l hemispheres
• • Influences personality and behaviour (ie. May be part of reason why women show stronger preference for social interactions)

Question 30

sex differences: evolutionary perspective

Answer 30

• The sexes are predicted to differ only in those domains in which people are recurrently faced with different adaptive problems (problems must be solved to survive and reproduce)
• Research supports many predicted sex differences, especially in sexuality (since from evo. persp., women have greater investment in pregnancy than men)
• • Women higher in sociability, trust, and tender-mindedness
• • Men are higher in assertiveness, aggression, activity, and impulsiveness
• • Women are higher in orderliness
• • Women are higher in anxiety
• • Men are higher in sexuality

Question 31

integrated theoretical perspective

Answer 31

• Integrated theory of sex differences would take all levels of analysis into account (socialization, hormonal, evolutionary), because they are compatible
• • Ex. evolutionary perspective could explain WHY sexes differ, whereas hormonal and socialization perspective could explain HOW
• • ex. ev. persp. could offer explanation for origins of hormonal differences between men and women
• • Ex. either hormonal differences or evolutionary theory (or both) could explain origins of socialization practices and roles
• • Ex. Socialization practices may have influenced evolutionary processes

Question 32

minimalist vs. maximalist argument

Answer 32

• minimalists: describe sex differences as small/inconsequential since most sex difference findings show small magnitudes of effect and most sex differences don’t have huge implications in daily life
• maximalists: sex differences should not be trivialized; have small medium and large magnitudes, and some have large implications for daily life

Question 33

sex differences in children

Answer 33

• largest difference in inhibitory control (girls better than boys; moderate d)
• girls also higher in perceptual sensitivity
• boys higher than girls in surgency (high activity) and physical aggression
• no difference in negative affect/emotion

Question 34

sex differences regarding sex/mating

Answer 34

• men have more permissive sexual attitudes, watch more porn, desire more partners, have more fantasies, more likely to have sex with strangers, more likely to become sexually attracted to female friends, more sexually aggressive
• women show more emotional investment (perhaps because they had stronger attachments to partners/children evolutionarily)

Question 35

sex differences in occupational preferences

Answer 35

• people-things dimension: whether you have a preference for careers with people (ie. teacher, social worker) or things (ie. mechanic, software engineer)
• men score higher on the things dimension; women score higher on people (high d)

Question 36

sex differences in depression

Answer 36

• no sex differences during childhood
• after puberty, women show 2-3x higher rate of depression; largest difference between 18-44, then convergence
• higher rate of dep. in women may be due to lack of power in workplace, lack of control over important areas in life, work overload, lower status in hetero relationships, their increased rumination, isolation, dissatisfaction with physical appearance (since men place more importance on physical aspects of partners -> higher pressure)
• sex differences in expression of depression: women more likely to report excessive eating/weight gain, cry, seek treatment, fidget nervously, decline in self-esteem; men more likely to become aggressive, miss work, become inactive, use drugs, become socially withdrawn, experience aches/pains, and die by suicide

Question 37

heritability of sex-typed behaviours

Answer 37

• sex-typed behaviours show moderate heritability

- although environment and socialization play a role, genes do too

Question 38

gender stereotypes

Answer 38

• beliefs about how the sexes differ
• 3 components:
• • Cognitive: putting people into social categories (ie. Dads, soccer moms)
• • Affective: positive or negative feelings resulting from stereotypes (ie. Sexism)
• • Behavioural: treating people differently (ie. Discrimination)
• gender stereotypes similar across cultures (women perceived as more communal/group-oriented; men perceived as more instrumental/independent)

Question 39

stereotypic subtypes of men and women

Answer 39

• male subtypes: playboy, career man, gay/soft, bureaucrat, cool guy
• female subtypes: classically feminine (ie. housewife), overly sexual, career women (more recent)

Question 40

real-world effects of prejudice and gender stereotypes

Answer 40

• families of men killed in wrongful death lawsuits receive more money
• men more likely to be recommended for coronary bypass surgery, even if women have the same damage
• women quoted higher car prices at dealerships
• male authors receive more negative reviews on their books; female reviewers gave more positive reviews for women (but male reviewers were not more positive to other me)

Question 41

gender dysphoria and rates of suicide amongst trans people

Answer 41

• gender dysphoria: when the sex you are assigned at birth causes you substantial distress - this is the case for many trans people
• a disproportionate amount of trans people consider and attempt suicide, likely due to the discrimination and transphobia they face (11% attempted, compared to 1.6% of the general population)