influence of culture and media

• cross-cultural research

  • valuable to nature nurture debate in gender
  • if gendered-behaviour is consistent across cultures - might conclude it is innate
• cultural differences

  Margaret Mead - cross-cultural study of tribal groups on the island of New Guinea:

  • the Arapesh were gentle and responsive (similar to UK stereotype of femininity)
  • the Mundugumor were aggressive and hostile (similar to UK stereotype of masculinity)
  • the Tchambuli women were dominant and they organised the village, whilst men were passive (reverse of common UK stereotype)
• Meads conclusions

  • there may not be biological relationship between sex and gender, and gender roles may be culturally determined
• cultural similarities

  • David Buss found consistent patterns in mate preference in 37 countries across all continents
  • women sought men who could offer wealth and resource
  • men looked for youth and physical attractiveness
• media

  • provides role models with whom children may identify and want to imitate
  • children likely to select models of same sex and who engage in gender-appropriate behaviour
• rigid stereotypes

  • media provides very clear gender stereotypes that are rigid
  • study of TV adverts by Furnham and Farragher
  • men were more likely to be shown in autonomous roles within professional contexts whereas women were often seen occupying familial roles within domestic settings
  • suggests media plays role in reinforcing social stereotypes concerning male and female behaviour
• information giving

  • evidence that children with more exposure to media tend tend to display more gender-stereotypical views in their behaviour and attitudes
  • does more than confirm gender-typical - gives information of the likely success in adopting these behaviours
  • seeing others perform gender-appropriate behaviours increases the childs belief that they are capable of carrying out such behaviours in the future (self-efficacy)
• W - criticisms of Mead's research

  • criticised for observer bias and for making generalisations based on a relatively short period of time
  • freeman conducted a follow up study of the Samoan people and argued her findings were flawed - her preconceptions of what she would find influenced her reading of events
• W - imposed etic

  • cross-cultural research typically conducted by western researchers
  • danger that researchers, armed with theories and methods developed in the west, impose their own cultural understanding upon the people they are studying
  • western ways of doing research may be largely meaningless when transferred to other cultures
  • including at least one member of local population on research team to guard against this
• W - correlation not causation

  • media has considerable influence on gender role stereotypes
  • vast majority of children exposed to the media on regular basis - control groups of children who are beyond medias influence are not available for comparison
  • without this comparison the medias effect is harder to establish