Gender

• Sex and gender

  sex - whether an individual is biologically male or female

  
  

  gender - social and psychological characteristics of males and females - eg masculine or feminine

  
  

  sex-role stereotypes - qualities and characteristics seen as appropriate for each sex
• Sex and gender

  EVAL

  • socially sensitive research - criticism of the media for stereotypical sex-roles - however their portrayals are now more subtly stereotyped but equally just as harmful
  • this implies that S-R-S can be addressed by providing children learning experiences that reinforce positive sex-roles that are equally applicable for men and women

  
  

  • sex-roles differ cross-culturally - learning from the environment are more influential than biological factors
  • HOWEVER - cultural influences can still impact S-R-S- globalisation - a movement towards more uniform S-R-S in all cultures
• Sex and gender

  Research ev

  
  

  Renzetti and Curan

  teachers gave reinforcements like praise for different qualities

  • boys = praised for 'cleverness'
  • girls = praised for 'neatness'

  shows sex-role stereotyping in education

  
  

  
  

  Langlois and Downs

  • boys were ridiculed by their peers when they played with female-gendered toys but accepted by their mothers

  peers police sex-role stereotyping
• Androgyny

  Bem Sex Role Inventory

  self-report questionnaire - measures androgyny

  60 characteristics measured on a 7-point scale

  • 20 stereotypical masculine, 20 feminine, and 20 gender-neutral traits

  androgyny = high masculine and feminine traits

  undifferentiated = low masculine and feminine traits

  • 34% of males and 27% of females were androgynous

  androgyny = a better indicator of psychological well-being
• Androgyny

  Bem Sex Role Inventory - EVAL

  • measures androgyny quantitatively - objectivity - easier to interpret
  • good test-retest reliability - pilot study - results = high correlation
  • potential low temporal validity and biased sample - American students - cultural bias - 1970's - gender norms and attitudes towards them have changed - can't be generalised to today
  • self-report - social desirability bias, people may not have insight into their own gender identity - subjective rating
• Androgyny

  EVAL

  • eval of BSRI - quantitative method, good test-retest reliability, cultural bias, low temporal validity
  • 
    
  • androgyny may not always be positive and desirable - eg being over-aggressive (masculine) or being too timid (feminine)
  • 
    
  • Adams and Sherer - people who display a higher proportion of masc traits are more valued in Westernised societies

  
  

  • Flaherty and Dusek - androgynous individuals = higher degree of self-esteem, a better sense of emotional well-being and adaptability
• role of chromosomes and hormones

  Gender development

  • chromosomes initially determine sex but hormones determine and control gender development

  XY - males

  XX - females

  eggs have an X chromosome

  sperms carry an X and a Y chromosome - determine the gender

  the Y chromosome carried by the sperm has a gene called the sex-determining region Y (SRY) - controls whether the gonads (sexual glands) become ovaries or testes
• role of chromosomes and hormones

  Testosterone

  • SRY on the Y chromosome: gonads become testes - first 8 weeks - testosterone is produced - development of male sex organs

  Oestrogen

  • regulates menstruation and influences physical changes - breasts - and psychological/ behavioural characteristics - premenstrual tension (PMT) - emotionality, irritability and irrational behaviour - behaviour: co-operation and sensitivity
  • diminishing of oestrogen - menopause

  Oxytocin

  • higher levels found in women than men
  • love-hormone - bonding
  • childbirth - stimulates contractions and lactation
• role of chromosomes and hormones

  EVAL

  Testosterone:

  • Nanne Van de Poll et al - high levels of testosterone - more physically and sexually aggressive behaviour

  Oestrogen:

  • Albrecht and Pepe - increasing oestrogen levels in pregnant baboons led to heightened cortisol production - development of the foetus - reduced levels of miscarriage by regulating progesterone levels

  Oxytocin:

  • Van Leegoed et al - when female rats were injected with an antagonist of oxytocin, maternal behaviours decreased, when the effects wore off, normal maternal behaviours were seen
• role of chromosomes and hormosomes

  EVAL

  • animal studies - extrapolation issues, ethical issues - eg Van Leengoed
  • oxytocin levels and maternal behaviours - practical applications
  • reductionist - focus on the impact of only one hormone - hormones are usually part of larger and complex biological mechanisms
• Atypical sex chromosomes patterns

  Klinefelter’s syndrome

  • when a male is born with an extra X chromosome (XXY).
  • This results in the male being taller, less muscular, and having less body and facial hair - rounder body type
  • They are generally incapable of producing sperm -infertile.
  • They can also develop certain health complications like breast cancer or osteoporosis - they have breast tissue
  • The individuals can also have language deficits as they have difficulty expressing themselves and can have trouble with social interaction - shy, passive, react badly to stress
• Atypical sex chromosomes patterns

  Turner’s syndrome

  • a female is born without a second X chromosome (X). She will just have a single X chromosome
  • This results in the female being shorter, dysfunctional ovaries, and having abnormal puberty - sterile and no menstrual cycle
  • Generally, for them to be able to go through puberty, they must receive hormonal treatments - breasts do not develop
  • higher than average reading ability
  • poor spatial and mathematical abilities
  • they can also have heart defects, skeletal abnormalities and kidney problems.
• Atypical sex chromosome patterns

  EVAL

  • practical applications: Simpson et al - KS: language and behavioural difficulties can be treated with androgen therapy - eg testosterone supplements and counselling
  • practical applications: Quigley - TS: oestrogen supplements = beneficial from the ages 8 to 12 and have a great psychosocial benefit in normalising breast development

  
  

  • ethical issues /socially sensitive - both KS and TS can be diagnosed prenatally - issues with abortion
• Cognitive explanations of gender development

  Kohlberg

  children's concept of gender changes over time, just as their thinking and cognitive ability changes over time.

  proposed 3 stages of gender development

  1. Gender identity
  2. Gender stability
  3. Gender constancy
• Cognitive ex


  Kohlberg

  Gender identity (2-3)

  • can correctly identify themselves and others as a boy or a girl
  • they don't know that sex is permanent - they think if a girl changes from a dress to a suit then her gender will change

  Gender stability (4-7)

  • see gender as being a fixed concept over time
  • they get confused by external changes in appearance - eg a man with long hair - gender can change when doing stereotypical activities of the opposite gender

  Gender constancy (6+)

  • gender is constant and consistent across situations and time - permanent concept
  • gender is internalised
• Cognitive ex 


  Kohlberg

  Stage 3: Gender constancy

  Role Models

  • gender becomes a permanent and internalised concept
  • children seek out role models to identify with and imitate
• Cognitive ex 


  Kohlberg - EVAL

  Slaby and Frey - children in the gender constancy stage spent more time looking at images of models of the same sex - younger children spent equal amounts of time watching both sexes

  Munroe et al - cross-cultural evidence supporting K's theory in countries like Kenya and Nepal

  • the theory was based on interviews with children - lack of understanding about gender or vocabulary to express it - low internal validity
  • holistic approach - cognitive and social learning combined
  • children display gender-appropriate behaviour before gender constancy stage
• Cognitive ex

  Gender Schema Theory - Martin and Halverson

  • proposes that gender identity alone provides children with motivation to assume sex-typed behaviours
  • children using gender stereotypes to construct their understanding of gender - schemas - mental construct developed thru experience
  • in-group vs out-group schema - stereotypes about the sex they are vs not
  • Children will process incoming information, filter out anything deemed ‘out-group’ and focus in on in-group activities, behaviours, and objects.
• Cognitive ex


  Gender schema - Martin and Halverson

  age 2-3

  • search for info as their schema expands - learn distinctions between what behaviour goes for what gender by observing their peers
  • stereotypes form their schema/ framework - helps the child's understanding of themselves

  age 5-6: gender constancy

  • they have stereotyped ideas about what is appropriate for their gender
  • disregard anything that doesn't fit within their existing schema

  age 8 -10

  • they develop schemas for both genders
  • their in-group schema increases the child's esteem
  • teenagers abandon stereotypes
• cOGNITIVE EX 


  GENDER SCHEMA THEory - EVAL

  Martin and Halverson

  • children under 6 = more likely to remember pictures of gender-consistent behaviours when tested a week later
  • children tended to change the sex of people doing the gender-inconsistent behaviour

  Campbell et al - children aged 2 who had high levels of gender knowledge didn't display preferences to play with gender-specific toys

  • reductionist - ignores influence of biological factors
• Psychological ex

  The phallic stage is the focus for gender development. The children become aware of the different genitals. Initially, they believe that females have been castrated (male genitalia has been removed).

  
  

  Electra complex

  Penis envy:

  • Girls feel desire for their father and exhibit hostility towards their mother.
  • The desire for their father is a result of penis envy, which is the concept that as girls do not have a penis, they wish that they have one.As their father has one, they begin to feel desire for him.
• Psychodynamic ex

  Oedipus: to satisfy his desire for his mother, boys identify with their father - internalise their male gender - this complex is resolved by having a sense of male identity - if this is unresolved they become confused about their sexual identity and become homosexual

  Electra: girls = competition with their mother for their father - penis envy for fathers - symbol of male power - identify with their mother - internalise their female gender - this complex is resolved by having a sense of female identity - if unresolved they become confused about their sexual identity
• SLT ex

  Social learning is the concept whereby children learn behaviours through modelling. They observe behaviours from a role model, then mimic those behaviours.

  Passive learning: observing and imitating

  Active learning: when children see behaviour reinforced through rewards or discouraged through punished
• SLT

  EVAL

  Rubin et al. - studied the way that fathers described their children. They found that they were more likely to describe girls as 'beautiful' and 'soft', but boys as 'strong' and 'firm'.

  lANGLOIS AND dOWNS - peers police sex-role steroetyping - female-gendered toys

  • doesn't explain how gender typical behaviours occur in the first place
  • ignores biological influences - hormones - eg testosterone - aggression
  • doesn't explain differences between same-sex siblings - one brother may be more masculine than the other
• SLT - Media

  Research ev

  Williams - natural experiment

  one town starting to be introduced to TV vs a nearby town that already had TV - effects of TV on gender stereotyping behaviour

  • initially, town introduced to TV had lower levels of gender stereotyping behaviour than the other town that already had TV
  • gender stereotyping behaviour increased in the town introduced to TV over the course of the study, eventually matching the levels of the town that already had TV.

  Leary - correlational study - the more TV a child watched, the more likely they were to have gender stereotypes.
• SLT - culture

  Research ev

  Whiting and Edwards (1988) examined children's behaviour - USA, Japan, Mexico, Kenya, the Philippines, and India

  • in all of the cultures, there were clear differences between male and female behaviour.
  • The gender behaviour was similar to Western stereotypes and norms of gender.

  supports the nature argument - innate

  Mead studied three different tribes, all from Papua New Guinea

  • These roles differed from the roles in Western society
  • roles differed between the tribes

  importance of culture and environment factors - supports the nurture argument.
• Atypical gender development

  Gender dysphoria - a disconnect between sex and gender causing distress and anxiety

  Gender identity disorder - a condition where the external sexual characteristics of the body are perceived as opposite to the psychological experience of an individual as male or female

  transexual - a subset of transgendered as those that have been ‘transsexed’, i.e. have undergone gender-reassignment surgery.

  • being transgender does not always mean a person has GID
  • GID is the result of the distress and anxiety caused by the incongruity between their sex and gender.
• Atypical gender development 


  Gender identity disorder (GID):

  When there is a disconnect between a person’s sex and their gender and this causes them distress.

  Transgender:

  Certain people feel that their biological sex does not match with how the identify in terms of gender. Other terms include gender non-conforming/gender expansive.

  Gender dysphoria:

  The DSM-5 definition which some believe has less stigma associated with the term.
• Atypical gender development 


  Biological ex

  Brain functioning

  • slightly different between the sexes
  • Those with gender identity disorder have brain functioning that is more typical of the sex that is not their biological sex

  Hormones in the womb

  • Sex hormones eg oestrogen and testosterone have impacts on the development of foetuses in the womb
  • higher levels of testosterone cause male genitalia to develop

  Hormones &GID

  • If a person has unusual hormone levels during their development in the womb, they could develop brain function that is typical of that of their non-biological sex
• Atypical gender development

  Bio - EVAL

  • reductionist -ignores SLT; simplifies a complex concept

  Rekers - 70 gender-dysphoric boys had a lack of stereotypical male role models - social over biological

  • socially sensitive research - care must be taken when investigating the phenomenon - prevent psychological harm to people who are often confused and vulnerable

  Hines - a strong desire to change sex - eg hormonal treatments, willingness to undergo surgery - despite prejudice, bullying and even job loss points to a biological explanation
• Atpical gender devel


  SLT

  • This theory can be used to explain how gender identity disorder develops.
  • If a male child, for example, imitates behaviours of a female role model, they may develop a female gender that does not match with their biological sex.
  • The behaviour has to be reinforced (for example positively through praise or rewards) for the behaviours to continue.
• Atypical gender devel

  SLT - Research ev

  Rekers and Lovaas - case study of a boy who displayed feminine behaviours

  The mother (trained to be his therapist) reinforced masculine traits in the boy while attempting to minimise feminine traits in a clinic and at home

  • after three years, the boy still displayed masculine traits.
  • So, the boy was ‘normalised’ and the treatment deemed a success.

  This study was controversial as many psychologists do not agree that gender identity disorder should be cured.

  This idea causes stigma to those with atypical gender identity.