Gender

• SEX

  The biological status as either male or female

  Chromosomes, hormones and anatomy
• GENDER

  The psychological identity as either masculine, feminine, androgynous

  differences in attitudes, behaviours and social roles.
• Sex-role stereotypes - Outline

  • Sex-role stereotypes refer to a set of shared ideas about what behaviours/ characteristics are appropriate and expected for males and females. They are generally shared by members of a society or culture.
  • E.g. sex-role stereotypes for females it that they should stay at home and take on a more nurturing and domestic role.
  • Meanwhile, a sex-role stereotype about males is that they should be breadwinners and be more aggressive.
• Sex-role stereotypes Outline (children)

  • Sex-stereotypes can develop through social learning whereby children observe and imitate sex-stereotypical behaviours from same-sex role models.
  • They can also be explained by a psychodynamic explanation whereby children in the phallic stage identify with their same-sex role model and internalise their sex-stereotypical roles and attitudes
• What behavior did researchers observe in boys when playing with toy bricks?


  Boys were reinforced for playing with toy bricks.
• How were boys punished in the study regarding their play with dolls?


  Boys were punished for playing with dolls.
• What behavior were girls praised for in the researcher's observation?


  Girls were praised for playing with dolls.
• How were girls punished in the study regarding rough play?


  Girls were punished for rough play.
• What do toy catalogues typically advertise for boys and girls?


  Toy catalogues advertise toy guns for boys and dolls for girls.
• What stereotype does the media support regarding boys and girls?


  The media supports the stereotype that boys should be more aggressive and girls should be more nurturing.
• What types of sports are boys and girls encouraged to participate in at school?

  Boys are encouraged to play contact sports like football, while girls are encouraged to play non-contact sports like netball.
• How does the encouragement of different sports for boys and girls support sex-role stereotypes?

  It reinforces the stereotype that boys should be more aggressive than girls.
• What evidence supports the existence of sex-role stereotypes in children's play and media representation?

  • Boys reinforced for playing with toy bricks, punished for dolls
  • Girls praised for dolls, punished for rough play
  • Media advertising toy guns for boys, dolls for girls
  • School sports: boys in contact sports, girls in non-contact sports
• Sex-role stereotype - Eval - negative application

  – Sex-role stereotypes can affect academic and career opportunities. E.g. the

  sex-role stereotype that females should take on a more caregiving, domestic role means they may

  be less supported/challenged in their education and may have their career opportunities limited.

  This results in females feeling pressured to stay at home or may not have the same opportunities

  as males when progressing in a career.
• Sex-role stereotypes - eval - methods


  Methods – Research typically lacks temporal validity due to being conducted many years ago.

  Social norms have shifted over time e.g. many parents now adopt less stereotypical child-rearing

  practices including gender neutrality with regards to clothing, toys and bedroom décor. This

  suggests that sex-role stereotypes may not be as common and influential as they were before.
• Androgyny

  Refers to a flexible gender role whereby an individual displays a balance of both masculine traits (e.g. assertive) and feminine traits (e.g. sensitive). For example, a person may be competitive and assertive at work (masculine) but a caring and sensitive parent at home (feminine).
• Androgyny Theory


  John Bem's Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) measures androgyny through 60 items, comprising 20 masculine, 20 feminine, and 20 neutral traits, rated on a 7-point scale.
• Bem's sex-role inventory - Findings

  People who scored as highly androgynous reported more positive feelings about themselves ( higher self-esteem)

  Also viewed relationships with others as more positive

  Psychologically healthier than those with stronger masculine, feminine or indifferentiated.

  Bem suggested people do not feel the need to suppress themselves to fit in with sex role stereotypes, they feel free to act the way they want.
• Eval. of the BSRI - Positive Methods- high in test-retest reliability

  High in test-retest reliability. Bem asked participants to complete the test and then complete it a few weeks later. A correlation between the two sets of scores showed a correlation coefficient ranging from 0.7 to 0.9. This suggests there is a strong POSITIVE correlation between the scores so it can be considered a reliable measure of androgyny.
• What is a negative method of evaluating the BSRI mentioned in the study material?

  Low in temporal validity
• Why is the BSRI considered low in temporal validity?


  Because it was developed over 40 years ago
• How may the traits regarded as masculine and feminine have changed since the BSRI was developed?

  They may have changed significantly
• What did recent research involving undergraduates reveal about the BSRI items?


  Only the words 'masculine' and 'feminine' were defined as their type
• What implication does the recent research have on the BSRI's items?

  They may be based on stereotypical ideas of masculinity and femininity
• How might the BSRI's stereotypical ideas of masculinity and femininity affect its cultural relevance?

  They may not be shared across all cultures
• What is a negative method of BSRI when measuring androgyny? - Risk of what?

  At risk of social desirability bias and Subjectivity.
• Why might participants not rate themselves accurately?

  They might not rate themselves accurately on some traits (e.g. loyal and ambitious) due to social desirability bias (wanting to appear favourably).
• Why might the scoring system be subjective?

  This is because people may interpret the 7-point scale differently e.g. ones person 5 might be another's 6.
• A risk of social desirability bias and subjectivity would prevent what?

  This would prevent an accurate and objective score being obtained for how androgynous an individual is.
• Atypical Sex chromosomes patterns - Klinefelter's syndrome

  Affects - 1 in 1000 males

  XXY chromosomal pattern
• Klinefelter's syndrome physical and sex patterns are?


  More breast development

  Lack of facial hair

  Longer arms and legs

  Wide hips
• klinefelter's Syndrome - psychological/gender differences are?


  A more shy and passive temperament

  Less interest in sexual activity

  Poorer language skills e.g. reading and writing
• Atypical sex chromosome pattern - Turner's syndrome 


  Affects 1 in 5000 females

  They have a XO chromosomal pattern
• Turner's syndrome - Physical/sex differences are?


  Shorter height

  Little to no breast development

  A short and webbed neck

  No menstrual cycle
• Turner's syndrome - Psychological/gender differences are?


  Poorer social skills i.e difficulties fitting in

  Better literacy skills e.g. reading and writing

  Poorer mathematical skills
• How can chromosomes affect sex characteristics?

  By comparing XY (typical) males with XXY (Klinefelter) males, we can see that atypical XXY chromosomes lead to a more shy and passive temperament. When comparing XX (typical) females with XO(Turner) females, we can see that atypical XO chromosomes lead to less breast development. This shows how chromosomes can affect sex characteristics.
• How has Atypical sex chromosomes informed us about how chromosomes play a role in gender.

  By comparing XY (typical) males with XXY (Klinefelter) males, we can see that atypical XXY chromosome lead to more shy and passive temperament. When comparing XX (typical) females with XO (turner) females, we can see that atypical XO chromosomes lead to poorer social skills and difficulties fitting in. This shows how chromosomes affect gender.
• How can environmental factors may be a cause of their gender differences, rather than their atypical sex chromosome.

  Klinefelters males may be more shy and passive, not because of their chromosomes, but because they may have been bullied for their breast development. Turner's females may have poorer social skills and difficulties fitting in, not because of their atypical chromosomes, but because they may have been bullied for their webbed neck. There is therefore an issue of confounding variables when drawing conclusions about how atypical sex chromosomes affect gender.
• Explain how research into these atypical sex chromosome patterns suffers from small sample sizes?


  This is because these syndromes are rare i.e. 1 in 1000 males have Klinefelters and 1 in 5000 females have turner's. This means it may be difficult to obtain enough participants to generalise any sex/gender differences to everybody with those syndromes.
• The role of chromosomes and hormones in sex and gender - biological explanation (MALE)

  • If a sperm cell carries a Y chromosome, it causes the XY (male) foetus to have the SRY gene
  • The SRY gene leads to the development of testes in males.
  • The testes secrete higher amounts of testosterone which leads to male sex characteristics - muscle mass and facial hair as well as masculine gender characteristics - aggressionS