Sex, gender and androgyny Flashcards
what are sex role stereotypes
set of shared beliefs/expectations people in a society/culture hold about what acceptable behaviour is for a male/female
how are sex roles learned explicitly
from socialisation - via social learning theory
how are sex roles learned implicitly
as children are exposed to the attitudes of others
what is the problem with sex role stereotypes
they may have no truth and lead to discrimination
which sort of individuals reinforce gender expectations
parents, peers, the media, institutions (schools)
what is sex
the biological differences between men and women (XX vs XY)
what is gender
the psychological (behavioural) disctinction between masculine and feminine personality traits
what study found evidence of the role of the media in sex role stereotypes
Furnham and Farragher - men more likely to be shown in professional contexts, women in domestic settings
what study found evidence for parents teaching their kids sex role stereotypes
Rubin - within 24 hours of a baby being born its described as ‘strong/good leader’ for boy, ‘soft/delicate’ for girl
what is androgyny
a personality type characterised by a balanced combination of masculine and feminine traits
name an example of an androgynous person
david beckham - aggressive in football, sensitive father
who studied androgyny
sandra bem
who argued for a link between androgyny and psychological well being
sandra bem
what link was found between androgyny and psychological well being
higher androgyny - better wellbeing
what is the reason for the link between androgyny and well being
the less expectation there is to be forced into one of male/female traits, the more comfortable people are with their own personality
what does being androgyny change about how you are able to handle situations
handle them more flexibly - better equipped to adapt
what did sandra bem create
BSRI - Bem Sex Role Inventory
what is the BSRI
list of 60 personality traits - 20 masculine, 20 feminine, 20 neutral
how does a person complete the BSRI
rate themselves on a 7 point likert scale (never true - always true) for each trait, total the score for masc/fem/neu traits, giving them a score for androgyny/feminity/masculinity
what scale is used in the BSRI
7 point likert scale (always true -never true)
how did sandra bem create the BSRI
asked 100 american students for desirable masc and fem traits (list of 200 narrowed to 40)
what do the neutral personality trait items in the BSRI act as
distractors - improving the validity of the test
if a person is categorised as masculine by the BSRI what type of scores do they get
high masc, low fem
if a person is categorised as feminine by the BSRI what type of scores do they get
low masc, high fem
if a person is categorised as androgynous by the BSRI what type of scores do they get
high masc, high fem
who added the fourth category to the BSRI
Spence et al 1970
what is the fourth category of the BSRI
undifferentiated
what scores does a person have to have on the BSRI to be allocated undifferentiated
low masc, low fem
why did spence add the fourth category to the BSRI
Bem hadn’t differentiated between androgynous people (both high scores) and people with neither traits (both low scores)
