gender

• what is a person's sex?

  their biological status determined by chromosomes
• what is a person's gender?

  their psychosocial status that includes their attitudes, roles and behaviours
• what is gender dysphoria?

  when their biological sex does not reflect the gender they identify themselves with
• what is a sex role stereotype?

  a set of perceived ideas about what is appropriate for men and women in society
• how are sex role stereotypes passed down?

  reinforced through parents, peers, the media and other institutions, such as school
• what is androgyny?


  the balance of masculine and feminine characteristics
• what is the Bem Sex Role Inventory?

  a method of measuring androgyny
• what does Bem suggest about high androgyny?

  better psychological wellbeing, as they are better equipped to deal with a range of situations
• what is the methodology of Bem's Sex Role Inventory?

  a self report questionnaire where ppts rank themselves on a 7 point scale based on 20 feminine, 20 masculine and 20 neutral characteristics
• what are the chromosomes for a male and female?

  XY and XX
• what is the baby's sex determined by?

  the male's sperm, and the baby will be female if they carry an X and will be male if it is a Y
• what does the Y chromosome carry?

  the SRY gene which causes testes to develop and produces androgens (male sex hormones)
• what is an example of an androgen?

  testosterone
• what does testosterone cause?

  the development of male sex organs and triggers secondary sexual characteristics in puberty
• what does the evolutionary explanation say testosterone can lead to?

  aggression, as it is adaptive, and allows competition for females
• what does oestrogen cause?

  determines female sexual characteristics and menstruation, and can cause heightened emotionality and irritability during the menstrual cycle
• what is oxytocin?

  a hormone that stimulates lactation and reduces the stress hormone cortisol to facilitate bonding
• when is oxytocin mass produced?

  during and after childbirth, yet men produce less
• what is an atypical sex chromosome pattern?

  any chromosome pattern that deviates from the typical XX/XY
• what can an atypical sex chromosome pattern cause?

  physical and psychological symptoms
• what is Klinefelter's syndrome?

  an additional X chromosome to make the structure XXY
• who suffers from Klinefelter's syndrome?

  1 in 600 biological males
• what are the physical characteristics of someone with Klinefelter's?

  reduced body hair, some breast development, long limbs, underdeveloped genitals
• what are the psychological characteristics of Klinefelter's?

  poorly developed language skills and reading ability, passive, shy, lack interest in sexual activity
• what is Turner's syndrome?

  an absence of an X chromosome, causing XO
• who does Turner's syndrome affect?

  1 in 5000 biological females
• what are the physical characteristic of Turner's?

  no menstrual cycle, undeveloped ovaries, infertility, undeveloped breasts, broad chest, webbed neck
• what are the psychological characteristics of Turner's?

  higher than average reading ability, low maths and visual memory skills, socially immature
• what is Kohlberg's theory?

  the idea that a child's understanding of gender becomes more sophisticated with age due to biological maturation
• what is the first stage of Kohlberg's theory?

  gender identity- 2-3 years old- children able to identify themselves as a boy or girl, yet this isn't fixed and doesn't stretch beyond simple labelling
• what is the second stage of Kohlberg's theory?

  gender stability- 4-5 years old- realisation they will always stay the same gender yet cannot apply this to to other people and are confused by external changes in appearance
• what is the the third stage of Kohlberg's theory?

  gender constancy- 6 years old- recognise gender stays the same over time and situations and applies this to other people so are no longer fooled by external appearances.
• what other theory can we connect with Kohlberg's?

  SLT - during gender constancy, children begin to seek out gender appropriate role models to imitate
• what is the gender schema theory?

  the idea that children develop their idea of gender by actively structuring their own learning
• what are schema?

  mental constructs that are developed through experience to organise knowledge
• what is a gender schema?

  a generalised interpretation of everything we know about gender and gender appropriate behaviour
• what happens when a child has established gender identity?

  they will search the environment for information that encourages the development of their gender schema
• what is an ingroup?

  when children pay more attention to information regarding their own gender to better understand their schema
• what is an outgroup?

  the other gender that a child doesn't focus their schema on
• when do children develop schema for both genders?

  8 years old