sex and gender

• Sex

  Biological sex is determined by chromosomes, hormones & anatomy. XX for girls & XY for boys. A person's biological sex at the chromosome level cannot be changed, it's innate.
• Gender

  The social & psychological characteristics associated with being male or female. Masculine = aggressive, competitive, leader. Feminine = caring, emotional. Ideas about gender can change.
• Sex Role Stereotype

  An overgeneralized belief/attitude about what is typical & appropriate behaviour for males & females
• Male sex role stereotype

  Associated with aggressive, competitive, lead -> can link with careers - CEO of a company, armed services.
• Female sex role stereotype

  Associated with caring, emotional -> can link with careers - nurses, childcare
• Nature explanation of sex role stereotype

  Bio-theory - genetic hard determinism. Sex chromosomes, hormones, eg. testosterone linked with aggression & oestrogen with caring.
• Nurture explanation of sex role stereotype

  SLT, Behaviourism - environmental, determinism. Parents, peers, teachers reinforce stereotypical behaviours, act as role models. Media - role models, adverts.
• Williams & Best


  Cross-cultural study to support sex role stereotypes are due to nature. 24 cultures, 5-8yr old kids. Shown a silhouette of male & female & told a story, eg. one of these people are emotional & cry a lot-which?. One of them gets into fights & is aggressive-which? Majority of cultures were in agreement - males are aggressive & females are emotional. Supports bio theory - sex differences due to sex chromosomes & hormones.
• Smith & Lloyd - Baby X study


  Study to support sex role stereotypes are due to nurture. Researcher crossed dressed babies & asked adult to interact with baby. Interacted with babies in sex stereotypical way; when dressed like a girl - made to be passive, told they were pretty, given a doll, when dressed like a boy - made more active, given cars, toy hammer.
• Faggot


  Study to support sex role stereotypes are due to nurture. Naturalistic observation of parents of 20-24 months old. Parents interacted in sex-stereotypical way even if they didn't think so.
• Evaluation of Smith & Lloyd - Baby X study


  Supports the idea that children are reinforced from babies to act in stereotypical masculine or feminine way by people around them. A criticism of this study could be that parents acted in a socially desirable manner as they knew they were being observed. This may question the validity of the results.
• Androgyny

  Having a balance of masculine & feminine traits, attitudes & behaviours. Eg. Sharon Osborne = competitive & forceful but also caring & compassionate.
• Bem's Sex Role Inventory: categories - study to support androgyny


  Masculine = high masculine & low feminine Feminine = high feminine & low masculine Androgynous = high for both Undifferentiated = low for both
• Bem's Sex Role Inventory: how the BSRI was developed - study to support androgyny



  50 male & 50 female judges asked to rate 200 traits for how desirable they were for males & females. The highest 20 masculine & 20 highest feminine were used on the BSRI. Face validity - on face value, the traits seem to measure masculinity & femininity.
• Bem's Sex Role Inventory: results of ppts who came out as androgynous - study to support androgyny



  Males = 34% Females = 27% Bem though these people were more psychologically healthy.
• Strengths of Bem's research

  Reliable Test-retest validity Concurrent validity Temporal validity
• Criticisms of Bem's research

  Temporal validity - as was developed 40 yrs ago, so the ideas about masculinity & femininity may have changed. Modern times rise in metrosexual males & females ladettes. Cultural bias as developed in the USA. Ethnocentric, may be an imposed etic. Very simplistic - likely to lead to socially desirable answers - gender & sex stereotypes are a sensitive topic with 'expected outcomes'
• Serbin study - androgyny linked with good mental health


  Compared uni students & psychiatric patients. Filled in 2 questionnaires: the BSRI & personality questionnaire. Generally androgyny was linked with good mental health. Discussion = high masculine scores also linked with good mental health. Taylor supports idea that in Western societies masculine societies are seen in a more positive way.