Gender

• Sex


  Biological status determined by chromosomes and genes - cannot change
• Gender


  Psychological status, expected behaviours and roles of each sex in a society - can change
• Sex role


  Expected behaviours of each sex
• Sex role stereotypes


  • Girls - homemaker, sensitive, good at multitasking
  • Boys - aggressive, breadwinner, emotionless
• Ingalhalikar - belief that women are better at multitasking. Mapped out male and female brains using MRI and found that women have better connections across both hemispheres whilst men have more intense activity within a specific hemisphere
• Rubin - looked at stereotyping in the first 24 hours of life. New parents were asked to describe their new born baby 24 hours after birth. Girls described as soft and delicate whilst boys described as strong and alert. Shows stereotype occurs early on
• Batista boys - "penis at 14". 4 boys from Dom Rep born with ambiguous genitalia - looked more female so raised as female BUT… during puberty they developed a penis. Their sex was XY. They socialised fine, married and had children
• Androgyny


  Balance of both masculine and feminine traits
• BSRI categories


  • Male: high male score, low female score
  • Female: high female score, low male score
  • Androgynous: high female score, high male score
  • Unclassified: low female score, low male score
• Bem suggested that those who were androgynous are more psychologically healthy than those classified as highly masculine or feminine
• BSRI


  • Ppts had to rate themselves 1-7 on 60 traits (20 male, 20 female, 20 neutral)
  • Pilot study - 100 people (male and female) judged 200 traits to get 20 male, 20 female and 20 neutral traits = VALID
  • High test-retest rates after 1 month = high reliability
• BSRI lacks temporal validity as societal views of suitable gender traits change, therefore it is now outdated
• BSRI was developed in the USA (individualistic culture) therefore not generalisable to other cultures
• Self report method, ppts can lie or exaggerate and want to be socially desirable, therefore data is subjective
• BSRI is too simple, it is difficult to measure using just traits so we need to look at hobbies and interests to fully understand gender
• Chromosomes


  46 chromosomes, 23 pairs, last pair determines sex. Male: XY, female: XX
• SRY gene


  In males produces androgens (testosterone) and causes the testes to develop
• Hormones


  • Testosterone - controls development of male sex organs and linked to aggression in both genders
  • Oestrogen - controls development of female sex organs and menstruation
  • Oxytocin - controls lactation and bonding. Women have higher levels than men which explains the female need for intimacy
• Bruce/Brenda - at 8 months old Bruce's penis was burned off. Dr Money believes in the "theory of neutrality". At 22 months, Bruce became Brenda, his testes were removed and female genitals were constructed. His parents would socialise him as a girl. Growing up Brenda was forced to wear dresses and play with dolls but she was socially isolated, had no friends and was bullied. At 15 Brenda found out she was biologically a male and underwent reconstructive surgery to change back to male and become David. This case demonstrates NATURE OVERRIDES NURTURE
• Van de Poll - injected female rats with testosterone, led to increased aggression
• Tricker - prisoners with higher levels of testosterone were more likely to have committed violent offences. Testosterone is linked to aggressive behaviour
• Animal studies - biological approach usually tests on animals, hard to generalise as human hormones change rapidly due to the environment. Therefore behaviour can be explained by SLT rather than biological approach. In addition, humans have higher order thinking therefore caution should be taken when generalising data to humans
• Klinefelter's


  XXY, Affects 1 in 750 males, Extra X chromosome, Not noticeable, identified during routine medical checks, Physical: Reduced body hair, Long gangly limbs, Breast development, Psychological: Poor reading skills, Passive and shy, Poor language skills
• Turner's


  XO, Affects 1 in 5000 females, Missing X chromosome, Noticeable from birth, Physical: Webbed neck, No menstrual cycle, Broad shield chest, Psychological: Higher reading ability, Low spatial, visual and maths skill, Socially immature
• Kohlberg's cognitive explanation


  Interactionist: nature - born with ability to make schemas, Nurture - schemas develop through experience, Stage theory: intellectual development runs parallel to gender understanding, this is GRADUAL, Egocentrism: inability to view the world from another point of view
• Kohlberg's stages of gender development

  • Gender identity (2-3 years old): Relies on physical appearance, Doesn't understand gender is permanent, Can label self as boy/girl, By 3 they know if others are boy/girl
  • Gender stability (3-4 years old): Knows their gender stays the same, Cannot apply this info to other people or situations
  • Gender constancy (6 years old): Complete understanding of gender for self and others across time and situations, Have biological understanding of males and females, Now look for role models to confirm knowledge
• Ken doll exp - a ken doll was shown to a 2, 4 and 6 year old. In phase A ken is wearing shorts and a shirt, phase B ken now has a skirt on and phase C ken has a skirt and long hair. Children state the gender. 2 years old: boy, girl, girl. 4 years old: boy, girl, girl. 6 years old: boy, boy, boy. Backs up Kohlberg's stages
• Kohlberg links to Piaget's work on egocentrism and conservation (something can change appearance but still be the same volume)
• Slaby and Fray showed pictures to children of females and males doing the same tasks. Children in the constancy stage looked longer at the picture - demonstrating understanding develops with age
• Kohlberg's theory cannot explain why boys are so reluctant to play with girls' toys. SLT can through direct/vicarious reinforcement
• Gender schema theory


  Gender knowledge runs parallel to intellectual development, As we get older our understanding of gender develops, Children develop their understanding of gender by activity structuring their own learning through schemas, Gender schema is a generalised representation of everything we know about gender and gender appropriate behaviour, They organise our knowledge eg girls are seen as gentle, caring and like the colour pink whereas boys are seen as aggressive, strong and like the colour blue, By 3, they begin to actively search their environment to further develop their schemas, By 6, children have a fixed and stereotypical view about each gender and its appropriate behaviours, They disregard anything that does not fit in their existing schemas eg a boy wearing pink, Children identify to their in-group (same sex, pay more attention to, boosts self esteem) and pay less attention to their outgroup (opposite sex), By 8, children have a good understanding of both genders and develop elaborate schemas which lead to negative evaluations of outgroups
• Martin and Halverson - found that children under 6 years remembered more photographs of gender consistent behaviour than of gender inconsistent behaviour after one week. They would change the behaviour of the person carrying out the inconsistent task
• Martin and Little - found that children under 4 years demonstrated strongly sex-typed behaviours and attitudes. These studies suggest that gender understanding develops a lot earlier than Kohlberg suggested (7 yrs)
• The gender schema theory overlooks social factors, therefore it does not explain WHY gender schemas develop and take the form they do. Therefore it is weak as it cannot explain gender development
• Many studies show that boys show more extreme gender-typed behaviour and a greater resistance to opposite-sex activities than girls. GST doesn't explain why males have a more fixed understanding of their gender then females, SLT can through operant conditioning
• Psychodynamic approach


  All happens in the UNCONSCIOUS, Structure of personality: ID - the "pleasure principle" that demands immediate gratification, EGO - mediates between ID and SUPEREGO, SUPEREGO - the "morality principle"
• Oedipus complex


  Boys desire their mum, they see their dad as a competitor for their mum's love. They notice not everyone has a penis. Boy develops CASTRATION ANXIETY (fear of dad chopping off their penis). They CHOOSE to give up their love for their mother and ACTIVELY identify with their dad. In doing so they take on their dads SUPEREGO (morals and values) and the male identity
• Electra complex


  Girls desire their fathers as he has a penis, develop PENIS ENVY, blame their mum for lack of penis, give up their love for their dad, PASSIVELY accept female gender identity, channels their energy into PENIS BABY PROJECT, identifies with mum and takes on her SUPEREGO
• Little Hans: 5 year old that developed a great fear of horses. Freud suggests this was due to the Oedipus complex
• Psychodynamic approach


  All happens in the UNCONSCIOUS