sex + gender Flashcards
Sex-role stereotypes Androgyny Measuring androgyny (bem sex-role inventory)
Sex
The biological fact of being male (XY) or female (XX)
gender
The psychological characteristics of being male or female
i.e masculinity femininity
gender identity
a persons awareness of being male or female which emerges during early years of childhood
Androgyny
Someone has a blend of masculine and feminine characteristics
sex role stereo types AO1
Sex-role stereotypes are the shared expectations within a society or social group regarding what is appropriate behaviour for men and women. Stereotypes are fixed beliefs about a particular group of people (e.g. men are strong; women are caring) and roles are the behaviours individuals show in a particular situation, which are affected by expectations (e.g. males being heroic; females caring for children or elderly relatives). Sex-role stereotypes are learned from birth, as children are exposed to the attitudes of their parents and others in society, via operate conditioning where gender appropriate behaviour is rewarded and gender inappropriate behaviour is punished.
Related research into sex role stereotypes
Fagot: observational study of children ~ 2y/o playing at home w/ parents, recording the reinforcements (e.g. praise) and punishments (e.g. getting told off) the parents provided. found boys + girls were reinforced and punished for different behaviours. Boys reinforced for playing with gender appropriate toys (e.g. bricks) and punished for playing with dolls. Girls were reinforced for staying close to the parent and punished for rough and tumble play.
TS idea of operant conditioning it Is important in reinforcing gender stereotypes
But conducted in 1978 –> temporal validity
Lytton + Romney 1991 –> conducted meta-analysis looking at differences in parental treatment between boys and girls and found similar results suggesting fagot’s conclusions are valid
Langlois + Downs: observation of kids who were given either gender appropriate / inappropriate toys to play with in a room w/ other children of their own age. E.g. boys and girls were given either a gun or a doll. FOUND those playing w/ gender inappropriate toys were ridiculed by peers who openly made fun of them, when playing with gender appropriate toys this was not the case
TS due to punishment, peers reinforce gender stereotypes
Media on sex role stereotypes + research to support
Media is likely to influence sexual stereotypes to social learning theories and also by creating social norms which boys and girls feel under pressure to conform to
McGhee et al – longitudinal study on a sample of 40 boys + 40 girls sampled at age 4, 8, 10 and 12. FOUND positive correlation between the amount of television they watched and their sense of traditional gender stereotypes. TS people imitate the behaviour seen on TV which reinforces gender stereotypes
bem sex role inventory
asked 50 males + 50 females to rate a list of 200 trait words, in terms of how desirable they were for men and women. From the list of 200, Bem selected 20 that were consistently rated as desirable for men, 20 for women (these demonstrate sex role stereotypes) and 20 neutral. The 60 items were randomly ordered and placed on the self report questionnaire
androgyny AO1
Androgyny is made up of two Greek words - ‘andro’, meaning male, and ‘gyny’, meaning female. Sandra Bem first introduced the concept of psychological androgyny, arguing that a person can show both masculine and feminine traits. Bem also argued that androgyny is a psychologically healthy position, as people avoid fixed sex-role stereotypes.
bem sex role inventory
asked 50 males + 50 females to rate a list of 200 trait words, in terms of how desirable they were for men and women. From the list of 200, Bem selected 20 that were consistently rated as desirable for men, 20 for women (these demonstrate sex role stereotypes) and 20 neutral. The 60 items were randomly ordered and placed on the self report questionnaire
Research into androgyny
Olds believed androgyny is a higher developmental stage reached only by some, while Bem (1983) argued that androgynous individuals have a different cognitive style and adopt behaviours which are independent of gender concepts. Therefore androgynous people are gender aschematic
Orlofsky has a behavioral explanation, seeing it as learned through reinforcement, allowing individuals to acquire masculine and feminine traits which are applicable to different situations but behavioural explanation fails to account for undifferentiated type
Research into Bems sex role inventory
Burchardt and Serbin gave undergraduates and psychiatric inpatients Bem’s SRI, along with a personality inventory to be classified as masculine, feminine, androgynous or undifferentiated. Androgenous females scored significantly lower for depression than feminine females. In hospitalized males this pattern was partially sustained, with androgynous and masculine participants being significanty less deviant than feminine males and lower on depression. This shows androgynous females are psychologically healthier and that sexual stereotypes are psychologically harming as it has a negative impact on mental health
This is furthered by Adams + Sherer: people who display a greater proportion of masculine traits are better adjusted, as these are more highly valued in Western society.
Bems sex role inventory ida
Bem’s research took place over 40 years ago and was carried out with Californian students. There is reasonable to assume that ideas about masculinity and femininity
–> TEMP VALIDITY + IMPOSED ETIC
BEM’S lenses
Review the world through gender on three western beliefs;
men + women are psychologically and sexually different
men are dominant
These differences are natural
–> Androcentrism this is an issue as it is structured around the idea that being male is the norm
