unit 4, topic 1

Question 1

define socialisation

Answer 1

The process learning the beliefs, customs and appropriate behaviours of a society or group.

socialisation is a term that refers to the lifelong process of inheriting and disseminating norms, customs and ideologies, providing an individual with the skills and habits necessary for participating within his or her own society.

two types - primary and secondary

Question 2

define norms

Answer 2

unwritten rules that tell us how to behave in various situations.
social guidelines, a set of societal standards for behaviour that represents the consensus about which behaviours are acceptable and encourages and those which are unacceptable.

Question 3

describe primary socialisation

Answer 3

socialisation that occurs within the home (direct interaction) during the early stages of life, typically from parents and close family members.

children model behaviour of their parents/guardians. 
includes gender, race, class socialisation 

important because it sets groundwork for future socialisation.

Question 4

describe secondary socialisation

Answer 4

refers to the socialisation that takes place outside the home, within society at large.

children learn how to behave for the situations they are in as well as social norms, the informal rules that govern behaviour in groups and societies. starts when children are exposed to socialising agents (people from other cultures who have different perspectives).

Question 5

define socialising agent

Answer 5

a person or group that facilitates the process of socialisation.

could be parents, family, peers, school or the media as well as indirect interaction.

Question 6

propose what could happen if someone only experiences primary socialisation

Answer 6

an individual who only experiences primary socialisation may have very limited views of the world, as they have been exposed only to beliefs, behaviours and attitudes of those closest to them (usually parents or primary care givers). As a result of this, they may struggle with the different experiences that are encounter in the world in the world outside their primary life. however they may also experiences difference in self esteem as they may never have compared their behaviour, attituded and beliefs to another, and this may increase self confidence.

Question 7

define social influence

what are the two types

Answer 7

the influence of others on the way people think, feel ad behave.
- influences may be intentional or unintentional

the two types of conformity and obedience

Question 8

what is normative influence and informative influence

Answer 8

is conformity based on one’s desire to fulfil others expectations and gain acceptance.

is conformity under acceptance of evidence about reality which has been provided by others.

Question 9

describe compliance as a level of conformity

Answer 9

compliance is the lowest level of conformity
- a person changes their public behaviour, they way they act, but not their private beliefs. this is usually a short-term change and if often the result of normative social influence.

eg:

Question 10

describe identification as a level of conformity

Answer 10

is the middle level.

here a person changes their public behaviour and their private beliefs, but only while they are in the presence of the group.

this is also normally short term change and normally the result of normative social influence.
eg: a person may decide to become a vegan because all of this new flat mates are vegan. but when they see mcdonalds they cant resist a burger with meat.

identification takes place when we are surrounded by a particular group, we change our private beliefs while in the presence of the group are not permanently.

Question 11

describe internalisation as a level of conformity

Answer 11

deepest level
here a person changes their public behaviour and their private beliefs. this is usually long term change and often the result of informational influence.

eg: someone converts their faith to a different religion.
- they internalised the new belief structure and conform to its rules

Question 12

define obedience

Answer 12

obedience is a type of social influence that occurs when we follow the rules or commands of someone with authority (power and status) or the rules or laws of society

Question 13

discuss asch’s studies of conformity

Answer 13

aim: to investigate under non ambiguous conditions.
participants: 50 male students from a swarthmore college USA.

procedure - participants were lead to believe that they were participating a study investigating visual judgement (deception).

tested with 7 confederates. participants were asked to judge the length of a line (which was longer).

the confederates deliberately answered questions incorrectly.

results: average rate of conformity was 32%. 74% conformed at least once , 26% never conformed.

Question 14

evaluate ash’s study of conformity

Answer 14

50 male students from Swarthmore college in America - Asch’s sample lacks population validity (gender difference?)

low ecological validity - artificial task, does not reflect conformity in everyday life.

ethically questionable - he broke several ethical guidelines, including, deception and protection from harm. although it is seen as unethical to deceive participants, Asch’s experiment required deception in order to achieve valid results.

Question 15

define injunctive and descriptive

Answer 15

injunctive - norms reflect people’s perceptions of what behaviours are approved or disapproved by others.

descriptive - norms involve perceptions of which behaviours are typically performed. they normally refer to the perception of other’s behaviour. these norms are based on observations of those around you.

Question 16

discuss Cialdini (2006) aim, participants, procedure

Answer 16

aim - to investigate the focus theory of normative conduct, which asserts that norms are only likely to influence behaviour directly when they are given attention and are therefore noticeable in consciousness.

participants - the naturalistic experiment was conducted using 2655 visitors to the petrified forest national part in the USA. the park had recently been added to the list of America’s 10 most endangered national parks and had reported the problem behaviour of visitors stealing 14 tons of petrified wood each year.

procedure - Cialdini and his team placed three foot square signs at the start of paths that wound through sections of the park where theft of wood had been a problem. signs were in place for 5 two hour blocks each weekend. during each two hour time block, they placed 20 pieces of petrified wood in designated locations, which were counted by researchers and replaced for each new time period.

Question 17

discuss Cialdini’s results (2006)

Answer 17

messages that used descriptive normative information was most likely to increase theft, whereas messages that used injunctive normative information was most likely to reduce.

researchers concluded that their findings support the focus theory, and that the type of normative information presented can dramatically alter how people respond to monitoring.

Question 18

define sex

Answer 18

sex is biologically determined by chromosomes and expressed as male, female or both genitalia, reproductive organs (gonads) and hormones.

a person can be classified as binary - female or male
or
non-binary - intersex: people both with male and female or ambiguous genitals and reproductive organs.

Question 19

define gender

Answer 19

gender refers to the roles behaviours, activities attributes and opportunities that any society considers appropriate for girls or boys, and women and men.

gender interacts with but is different from, the binary categories of biological sex.

is a social construct

Question 20

how do gender roles form

Answer 20

they form based on stereotypes and bias. this happens through primary and secondary socialisation, especially media.

Question 21

gender identity

Answer 21

the psychological sense of oneself as a man or woman. gender identity is achieved around 2-3 years of age, where a child recognises and labels themselves as a boy or a girl.

eg:
transgender people may have a gender identity that differs from their assigned sex.

the extent to which people to which an individual approves of and participates in feelings and behaviours considered as appropriate to their culturally constituted gender.

gender identity and role can conflict.

Question 22

describe the biological theory of gender role formation

Answer 22

suggests an individual’s gender is biologically predetermined.

evidence: there is evidence from studies that support biological theory and the innate differences between makes and females.
- physical: higher testosterone is associated with greater strength therefore men are more physically capable than women.

• psychological abilities - studies have demonstrated that sex can have the structure and function of brain cells. eg: males have better visuospatial awareness whereas females display increased language abilities. males are more logical and females are emotional.

evidence:
- alexander & Saenz (2012): boys and girls, aged 1 year or less, prefer to play with different types of toys, even if exposed to gender neutral toys or equal access to gender stereotypical toys.

• Campbell (200) found that children have more gender based toy preferences as young as 18 months (suggesting that gender differences are innate).

Question 23

describe the evolutionary approach to gender role formation

Answer 23

male and female behaviour is teh result of different biological and psychological traits that have developed to increase survival/reproduction.

eg: traits development - men hunted therefore required physical strength, aggression and higher levels of competition. women gathered for foods, socialised and nurtured children and are therefore primed to exhibit these traits.

eval:
- this theory explains how stereotypical traits developed but not why they have persisted in modern society.

Question 24

describe biosocial approach in gender role formation

Answer 24

the development o gender is the result of the interaction between biological predisposition and social factors. this theory proposes that children are born gender neutral however their socialisation is based on the genitalia they show.

eval:
- this theory explains differences in male and female behavioural differences but not why gender roles are maintained.

Question 25

explain the stages Kohlberg’s

Answer 25

cognitive theorists such as Kohlberg see gender development as part of cognitive development. childrens understanding increases with age, which forms the basis of their gender identity.

stages:
1. gender identity - 2-3 years:
- recognise that they and others are male or female.
- attribute gender to physical characteristics or behavioural attributes and therefore assume it is fluid. indeed they often believed that they would grow up and become a different sex. eg: a girl could become a boy by cutting her hair short and wearing ‘boys clothes’

2. gender stability - 3-4 years:
   at this age, children begin to realise that boys will grow up to men and girls will grow up to be women (gender is table across time). however, they still don’t understand that fender can the changes by changing appearance or activity choices.
3. gender constancy -5-7 years.
   fully comprehend that sex is fixed and cannot be altered by cosmetic changes. eg: a boy wearing a dress is still of male sex.

once they develop this understanding, they will begin to consciously act as a member of their sex.

Question 26

explain the gender schema theory

Answer 26

the main focus of cognitive theory assumes that cognitive processes influence gender role formation.

gender schema’s influence how people pay attention to perceive, interpret, and remember gender relevant behaviour.

Martin and Halvorson (1981) once children can categorise boys and girls and recognise which group they belong to, they will be internally motivated to actively seek out information to build up support their schema.
kholberg argues that this motivation depends on the child first passing through the stages of cognitive development. include a broad range of qualities and attributed (stereotypes) that are less concrete, such as associating gentleness with females and toughness with males.

Question 27

what is evidence for Khobergs theory

Answer 27

kuhn also looked at gender stereotyping by asking very young children (2-3 years) about olls. they found strong stereotyping and they tended to give positive characteristics to their own gender but not the opposite. this shows that understanding of gender exists even at a very young age.

Question 28

evaluate the cognitive approach to gender formation

Answer 28

kholbergs theory is limited - it is descriptive (tells you what) rather than explanative (doesn’t tell you why). therefore it doesn’t account for gender differences across cultures or for historical changes.

more recent studies have shown that gender identity may develop earlier than theorised by Kholberg. the questions that kohlberg asked may have not been appropriate for the childrens linguistic development.

Question 29

explain social learning theory

Answer 29

suggests gender identity and role formation develops through nature, vicarious learning nad modelling rather than nature.

individuals develop gender by imitating role models.

observation takes place, and that learning is reinforced vicariously.
- vicarious reinforcement occurs when a person witnesses a model being rewarded for behaving in a gender-appropriate way (eg. girl being praised for playing quietly with her dolls).

Question 30

contrast between collective and groups

Answer 30

collectives tend to be spontaneously formed, resulting from a shared experience tat engenders a sense of common interest and identity, albeit temporarily. the informality of the groups structure is the main source of the frequent unpredictability of collective behaviour.

whereas

groups have well establishes rules and specifying their purposes, membership, leadership and method operation.

Question 31

distinguish between power and status

Answer 31

status reflects whether other people hold you in high esteem - your position in the social hierarchy, as determined by the evaluation of others.
whereas
power is the ability to control resources - this is usually a tangible, objective ability.

Question 32

what are the sources of power

define them and give examples

Answer 32

there are 6 sources of power
reward power - the ability of the influencer to provide what the receiver wants or to remove what they do not. - employer giving employees bonus, parents giving love, friends giving approval.

coercive power - the ability of the influencer to punish the receiver by inflicting a negative stimulus or removing a pleasant stimulus. - parents

information power - results from the persons ability to control the information that others need to accomplish something. - emergency responders, project manager, librarian.

legitimate power - the targets accepts the norms (probably internalized) that the influencer has the formal right to make demands, and to expect others to be compliant and obedient. - a referee

expert power - the influencer has power because the target believes they possess are superior knowledge and skills. - cardiac surgeon, fighter pilot, physicist

referent power - the influence a person has because they are respected or admired. the target wishes to be like the influencer. - role models, celebrities, sports star, team captain.

Question 33

evaluate the reliability and validity of Sheriadn’s study (1972)

Answer 33

aim: to investigate the validity of milgram’s (1963) obedience paradigm in a more authentic situation
participants: 13 males and 13 female participants were instructed to deliver a shock to a puppy as it learned to discriminate between flickering and steady lights.
procedure: the participants helped to place the puppy in a box that had a signal light at one end and shock grid on the floor on the other.