Gender

• Sex

  an individuals biological status as either male or female, due to chromosomes, reproductive organs and hormones etc.
• Gender

  a person's sense of, and expression of their masculinity and femininity - this is often determined by cultural differences expected by society of men and women
• Sex Role Stereotypes

  beliefs that surround the types of qualities and characteristics seen as appropriate for each sex , which are then applied as rules to be followed
• SRS Development

  taught from a young age, e.g. with different toys, and within society, boys and girls will receive hostility and pressure to assume correct sex roles
• Urberg

  told children stories which illustrated gender-stereotyped traits (bravery, caring) and asked children whether the trait depicted was typical of males, females, both or neither - found that their responses reflected gender stereotypes with bravery being associated with males, caring with females and also found that children tended to attribute positive traits to their own gender
• Androgyny

  individuals who possess a balance of both masculine and feminine traits
• Bem's Sex Role Inventory

  first systematic attempt to measure gender using a rating scale of 60 traits (20 masculine, 20 feminine and 20 neutral) which produced scores against two dimensions ( masculinity-femininity, androgynous-undifferentiated) - Bem found that more people tended to be androgynous than at the male/female extremes and that androgynous individuals were more psychologically healthy
• Turner's Syndrome

  atypical sex chromosome pattern in females (XO) resulting in underdeveloped ovaries and a webbed neck, and psychological effects like that of increased verbal ability and decreased spatial awareness
• Klinefelter's Syndrome

  atypical sex chromosome in males (XXY) resulting in infertility and less facial hair as well as poor linguistic skills
• Testosterone

  sex hormone present in larger quantities in males which is responsible for the masculinisation of the brain - responsible for behaviours such as aggression and competitiveness, as well as visuospatial abilities
• Oestrogen

  sex hormone associated with the development/maintenance of female characteristics and the regulation of menstruation - associated with feminisation of the brain (less lateralisation) and behaviours like sensitivity and cooperation
• Oxytocin

  hormone and neurotransmitter which controls key aspects in both male and female reproductive systems - facilitates childbirth and breastfeeding in females as well as affecting mate selection and nesting behaviours , and plays a role in sex
• Young et al

  gave female rats male hormones and found reversed sex behaviours
• Tricker et al

  found no behavioural differences in participants injected with testosterone or a placebo
• Kohlberg's Theory

  sees children acquiring gender in three stages where they understand increasingly sophisticated gender concepts as their thinking matures - gender identity, gender stability and gender constancy
• Gender Identity

  18m-3 years old - gender knowledge is fragile with gender labels used to categorise the world
• Gender Stability

  3-5 years old - gender knowledge is egocentric and relies on superficial signs (children realise their own gender is fixed but think that masculine or feminine behaviours determine others' gender)
• Gender Constancy

  6-7 years old - children realise gender is permanent and remains constant over time and space/situation
• Slaby & Frey

  children with high levels of gender constancy paid greater attention to same-sex models performing gender-stereotypical tasks - showing gender constancy is an active process by which children acquire gender appropriate behaviours
• Bussey & Bandura

  found that 4-year-olds reported feeling awful about playing with gender inappropriate toys, suggesting gender constancy occurs earlier than 7 years old
• Gender Schemas

  a set of gender-related beliefs which influence behaviour based on observations of what it means to be male or female
• Gender Schema Theory


  argues gender identity motivates children to assume sex-typed behaviour patterns which are learnt through observation - preschoolers learn distinctions between the behaviours that go with each gender through parental reinforcement, 4-6-year-olds learn associations for their own gender, 5-6-year-olds develop constancy and more elaborate understanding, and in late childhood, it is understood the rules are just social conventions and schemas become more flexible
• Martin & Halverson

  asked children to recall pictures of people and found that children under 6 recalled more gender-consistent images (male footballer) than gender-inconsistent ones (male nurse)
• Campbell et al

  found that 2-year-olds who possessed high levels of gender knowledge did not show gender-specific toy preferences
• Oedipus Complex

  unconscious conflict in which a boy's first sexual desires are directed towards his mother, which is accompanied by a hatred and fear of his father known as castration anxiety - resolution comes through identification with the father and the internalisation of sex-appropriate behaviours
• Electra Complex

  the female equivalent of the Oedipus complex in which castration anxiety is replaced by penis envy, which is also resolved through identification and internalisation with the mother
• Little Hans

  Hans had a fear of horses which was interpreted by Freud as a fear of his father, representing the Oedipus complex as Freud saw Hans' fear being a result of castration anxiety - Hans was able to resolve this through fantasies in which he fathered many children
• Social Learning

  sees gender roles being learnt through imitation and observation of socialising agents (parents, peers, the media and culture) with gender appropriate behaviours being reinforced
• Parental Influence

  girls and boys learn different gender roles as they are treated differently by their parents, giving them different toys, decorating their rooms differently etc. - children are more likely to imitate the same sex model and take their parent's gender schemas
• Peer Influence

  peers of equal status act as role models for gender stereotypes allowing children to imitate same-sex models - these stereotypes are reinforced through praise of appropriate behaviours and ridiculing inappropriate behaviours
• Media Influence

  TV, social media and music influence the acquisition and shaping of gender roles, with children who consume the most media developing more extreme perceptions of gender roles
• Steinke et al

  examined TV shows for children which have a scientific element and found that 58% of scientists were male and male scientists were more likely to be portrayed as independent and dominant
• Cultural Influence

  allows psychologists to investigate the extent to which gender is a biological or social construct
• Mead et al

  lived with and observed 3 tribal communities in New Guinea (Arapesh, Mundugumor, Tchambuli) and found that in the A group males and females showed typically feminine traits, the M group showed masculine traits such as aggression, and the T group showed distinct gender roles but were reversed (men as emotional and women as providers/decision-makers)
• Errington & Gewert

  studied the same tribal communities as Mead but found no such role reversals
• Gender Dysphoria

  inconsistency between one's assigned gender based on sexual characteristics and the expressed gender or psychological expression of the self
• Social Explanations for Gender Dysphoria

  learnt through operant conditioning and social learning concepts where exhibiting cross-gender behaviour is reinforced, or the behaviour is learnt through observation
• Biological Explanations for Gender Dysphoria

  seen as an inherited abnormality or as a result of hormonal imbalances during foetal growth in the womb
• Hare et al

  examined gene samples from male gender dysphoric and non-dysphoric, found a correlation between gender dysphoria and variants of the androgen receptor gene (influences the action of testosterone)
• Rekers et al

  found that in 70 dysphoric boys, there was a common factor of a lack of stereotypical male role models