Unit 2 Flashcards
What are the theories/origins of sex differences?
- Socialization and Social Roles
- Hormonal theories
- evolutionary psychology theory
- an integrated theoretical perspective
What is the socialzation theory:
Boys and girls become different because boys are reinforced by parents, teachers, and media for being “masculine,” and girls for being “feminine”
What is Bandura’s social learning theory:
Boys and girls learn by observing behaviors of same-sex others and repeating the behaviors that are rewarded, avoiding / diminishing the expression of behaviors that are discouraged..
What are the hormonal theories?
Hormonal, physiological differences cause boys and girls to diverge over development
Following puberty, there is little overlap in the levels of circulating testosterone (with men having about 10 times more than women)
What is the evolutionary psychology thoery?
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)
What is the integreated theoretical perspective?
Integrated theory of sex differences would include all levels of analysis into account (socialization, hormonal, & evolutionary), because they are compatible
What domains of sex differences?
Domains that show larger sex differences include assertiveness, aggressiveness, interest in casual sex, but there is an overlap in each domain
What revealed the universslity of generder stereotypes?
Cross-cultural work
In what year was there a rise and fall of concept of androgyny?
1970s
What book was published in 1974 and who wrote it?
The Psychology of Sex Difference
by Maccoby and Jacklyn
What did The Psychology of Sex Difference do to the study of sex differences?
- Set off an avalanche of work on sex differences
- Researchers developed more precise quantitative procedures for examining conclusions across studies and thus for determining sex differences: Meta-analysis
Maccoby and Jacklyn presented an informal
summary of research
How large are the sex differences?
Effect size (d): .20 = small, .50 = medium, .80 = large positive d means men higher, negative d means women higher
- Even the large effect size for the average sex difference does not necessarily have implications for any one individual
How do minimalists describe sex differences?
Minimalists describe sex differences as small and inconsequential
How do maximalisits describe sex differneces?
Maximalists argue that the size of sex differences should not be trivialized—small effects can have important consequences
What are the sex differences in the extraversion personality trait?
- Women score slightly higher on gregariousness (d = –.15)
- Men score slightly higher on activity level (d = .09)
- Men score moderately higher on assertiveness (d = .50)
What are the sex differences in the agreeablness personality trait?
- Women score higher on trusting (d = –. 25), tender-minded (d = –.97)
- Women smile more than men (d = –.60)
What are the sex differences in the conscientiousness personality trait?
- Women score slightly higher on order (d = –.13)
- Emotional Stability (low N)
- Men and women are similar on impulsiveness (d = .06)
- Women score higher on anxiety (d = –.28)
What are the sex differences in the openness personality trait?
The evidence seems to suggest that men and women do not differ on this personality characteristic… even looking across many cultures.
What are the sex differences in the aggressiveness personality trait?
- Men commit more violent crimes of all
sorts - Sex difference in violent crimes tends to correspond with puberty, peaking in adolescence and the early 20
- Men are more physically aggressive, as
assessed on personality tests, in fantasies, and manifest behavior (moderate to large effect sizes) - Profound consequences for everyday life; Men commit 90 percent of homicides
worldwide
What are the sex differences in the self-esteem personality trait?
- Result from meta-analyses: effect size is small, with males scoring higher (d = .21); As children age, the gap widens: 11–14, d = .23; 15–18, d = .33 (in early adolescence girls lower); In adulthood, the gap closes: 19–22, d = . 18; 23–59, d = .10
- Result from developmental anaylsis: Young children (ages 7–10) show slight difference (d = .16)
- Interest in casual sex, d = .81
- Number lifetime sex partners desired, d = .87
What is rumination?
repeatedly focusing on one’s symptoms or distress; women ruminate more, which contributes to the perseverance of depressive symptoms
What is Spence?
Measure does not assess sex roles, but instead personality traits of instrumentality and expressiveness
What is Bem?
Measure assesses gender schemas and cognitive orientations that lead people to process social information on basis of sex-linked associations (cognitive orientation/domain)
What are the three components of gender sterotypes?
Three components: Cognitive, affective, behavioral
Content of gender stereotypes: Attributes we believe
men and women possess
Why is it useful to study personality & culture?
Chapter 17; WK 7 1 of 2
- To determine concepts of personality in one culture apply to others…
- To determine if the structure of personality applies across cultures
- To discover whether cultures differ in the levels of particular
personality traits (“cultural personalities”). - To discover whether certain features of personality are universal (human nature).
What are the three ways that cultural infuences personality?
Chapter 17; WK 7 1 of 2
- Evoked culture
- Transmitted culture
- Cultural Universals
What is culture?
Chapter 17; WK 7 1 of 2
Culture si the distinctive patterns of behavior (customs, norms, values, beliefs, etc.) that are common to a region or group of people.
What is cultural variation?
Chapter 17; WK 7 1 of 2
Culture that is local within-group similarities and between-group differences in patterns of behavior of any sort. (like physical, psychological, behavioral, and values)
What are the three goals of cultural personality psychology?
Chapter 17; WK 7 1 of 2
- Discover principles underlying cultural diversity.
- Discover how human psychology shapes culture.
- Discover how cultural understandings shape psychology.