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Psychology A Level > Gender > Flashcards

Gender Flashcards

1
Q

Define androgyny

A

Formed from the two words ‘andro’ meaning male and ‘gyny’ meaning female. The word means a combination of male and female characteristics

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2
Q

Define gender

A

A person’s sense of maleness or femaleness, a psychological/ social construct.

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3
Q

Define sex-role stereotypes

A

A set of shared expectations within a social group about what men and women should do and think

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4
Q

What is the traditional view on sex roles?

A

That they are good for mental health

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5
Q

Who challenged the traditional view on sex roles and what did they say?

A
  • Sandra Bem challenged this view by saying that the opposite is true
  • She said that we should adopt roles that suit us
  • She said that stifling behaviour may lead us to become mentally unhealthy
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6
Q

What does BSRI stand for?

A

Bem Sex Role Inventory

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7
Q

Describe how the BSRI was developed

A
  • 100 undergraduates were asked to identify male and female traits
  • 40 items selected
  • 20 masculine traits, 20 feminine and an additional 20 neutral items
  • Scores decipher whether you are masculine, feminine or androgynous
  • High on both masculinity and femininity means androgynous
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8
Q

What method did Bem use to conduct her research? What are the issues with this method?

A

A questionnaire which is a self-report technique and can therefore create socially-desirable answers

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9
Q

What were the categories that were originally used to identify individuals using the BSRI?

A
  • Masculine (high masculine score, low feminine)
  • Feminine (low masculine score, high feminine)
  • Androgynous (high ratio of masculine to feminine traits)
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10
Q

What was the fourth category identified by Spence et al?

A

Undifferentiated- low scores on both feminine and masculine

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11
Q

How was masculinity/femininity/ androgyny/ undifferentiated operationalised?

A

Each adjective was given a score on the Likert scale and then the scores were added up and divided to get an average

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12
Q

How did Bem reformulate her approach in terms of the gender schema theory?

A

She said that an androgynous person would respond independently of gender when faced with a decision as to how to behave in a particular situation. However a traditionally sex-typed person will determine what is the appropriate response for their gender using gender schemas

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13
Q

Evaluate sex-role stereotypes and androgyny

A

Support for parental influence-Smith and Lloyd set up an experiment where mothers were videotaped playing with a baby. The baby was named and dressed but the names and clothes were not always consistent with the sex. Masculine, feminine and neutral toys were presented and it was found that mothers responded to the perceived sex of the infant in line with gender stereotypes

Support for the relationship between androgyny and mental health- Prakash tested 100 married females in India and measured their health characteristics. It was found that health correlated with high scores on masculinity and femininity

Real world applications- Baby X studies where children are raised genderless

Validity- There was an intervening variable of self esteem. Those who had high self esteem were more likely to score high on feminine and masculine traits. Libermann and Gaa found that some individuals just have a tendency to select answers at the higher end of the Likert scale leading to a higher overall score.

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14
Q

What are the typical sex chromosomes found in males and females?

A

Females are XX

Males are XY

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15
Q

When does the foetus start to develop as male?

A

At 3 months the foetus starts to develop as male as the testes start to produce testosterone which causes external male genitalia to develop

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16
Q

What is Klinefelter’s syndrome?

A
  • Individuals with XXY configuration
  • Born with a penis and develops as a fairly normal male
  • Tend to be taller than average
  • May have less muscle coordination
  • They look less masculine as they produce less testosterone e.g. less facial hair, broader hips, possible breast tissue
  • Often infertile
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17
Q

What is Turner’s syndrome?

A
  • Individuals with XO configuration (the second sex chromosome is completely or partly missing)
  • These individuals are born with a womb and vagina
  • However they have underdeveloped ovaries so will not menstruate
  • Shorter than average
  • Other symptoms include small lower jaw, webbed neck, narrow hips, misshapen internal organs and so on
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18
Q

What is congenital adrenal hyperplasia?

A

Refers to girls being exposed to more testosterone prenatally

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19
Q

What is androgen insensitivity syndrome?

A

Refers to males being exposed to less testosterone prenatally

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20
Q

What are the cognitive symptoms associated with Klinefelter’s syndrome?

A

The boy would have poor language skills and may not even talk yet at 3 years old. This affects reading ability. As babies they would have passive and co-operative temperaments. Calm and shy.

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21
Q

What are the cognitive symptoms associated with Turner’s syndrome?

A

These girls would have higher than average verbal ability, but lower than average spatial ability, visual memory and mathematical skills. They usually have poor relationships with their peers.

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22
Q

What is testosterone?

A
  • Triggers the development of male genitalia

- Surge during puberty that causes secondary sexual characteristics such as facial hair

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23
Q

What did Berendaum and Bailey find regarding testosterone?

A

Prenatal exposure to testosterone in females causes tomboyish behaviour

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24
Q

What is oestrogen?

A
  • Shi et al found that prenatal exposure can lead to smaller brain size
  • Surge during puberty is responsible for secondary sex characteristics and is responsible for directing the menstrual cycle
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25
Q

What is oxytocin?

A
  • Produced in the pituitary gland
  • Often called the ‘love hormone’ as it promotes bonding
  • Important in breastfeeding as it causes milk to flow
  • It dampens the ‘fight or flight’ response and triggers ‘tend and befriend’
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26
Q

What was the aim of Money and Erhardt’s study?

A

To investigate the role of socialisation in gender development

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27
Q

What happened to David Reimer?

A
  • Started life as Bruce Reimer
  • Suffered a failed circumcision that left him without a penis
  • Dr Money advised Bruce’s family to raise him as a girl (Brenda)
  • From 2 Brenda was dressed in female clothing
  • At the age of 12 Brenda was given oestrogen
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28
Q

What did Money and Erhardt find?

A
  • Money initially concluded that the experiment was a success
  • Brenda was unhappy and depressed during her teen years
  • Parents told the truth
  • At age 16 David had plastic surgery to create a penis
  • At 22 he had further surgery
  • David went on to get married and have kids although he ended up killing himself
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29
Q

What was the conclusion from the David Reimer case study?

A

Biology is more important than socialisation (especially chromosomes and prenatal hormones) as David transitioned back to his original gender

30
Q

Evaluate the role of chromosomes and hormones in sex and gender

A

Support for the role of culture in gender- The Batista family. 4 brothers who were born without external male genitalia and raised as girls. They had XY chromosomes but had testosterone insenstivity. A surge of testosterone during puberty caused them to grow a penis and they accepted their new male role without difficulty which shows that in a culture where gender fluidity is more accepting it is easier to move between roles

Support for the role of biology- Reiner and Gerhardt studied 16 genetic males with almost no penis. Two were raised as males and remained males. The other 14 were raised as females and 8 of them reassigned themselves as males by age 16 which shows biological factors play a key role

Effect of hormones on brain development- Quadagno et al studied female monkeys who had been exposed to more testosterone prenatally and found them to be more aggressive and they engaged in more rough and tumble play. This shows the effect of testosterone on the brain. Difficulty generalising?

Real life applications- Previously anyone who had genetic abnormalities in terms of their sex chromosomes couldn’t compete in the Olympic games but in 1991 that was lifted so that genetic sex would no longer determine entry to the Games. Only individuals who are obviously physically male are excluded from women’s games. This shows that genetic sex no longer determines gender and allows intersex people to compete.

31
Q

What is gender labelling/gender identity?

A
  • Occurs in children aged 2-3
  • Children can label themselves and others as a boy or girl/ man or woman
  • The label is based strictly on physical outward appearances such as hairstyle or clothing
  • Children will change the labels as appearances change, for example, if a boy put on a dress he would be a girl
  • Children don’t understand that gender is constant over time and situation
32
Q

What is gender stability?

A
  • Occurs in children aged 3-4
  • Children recognise that gender is consistent over time i.e. girls grow into women and boys grow into men
  • Do not understand that gender is consistent over situations
  • Get confused about external changes in males and females appearances such as hair length and clothes
33
Q

What is gender constancy?

A
  • Occurs around 6 years
  • Complete understanding of gender
  • No longer fooled by outside appearances such as thinking a man with long hair is a woman
  • Often have an understanding of biological differences between males and females
  • Recognises that gender remains constant and consistent over time and situations
34
Q

Evaluate Kohlberg’s cognitive theory of gender development

A
  1. Studying young children- Young children are difficult to study as it is hard to tell if they actually understand the questions asked and may show demand characteristics which would make the data invalid
  2. Research evidence- Thompson found that 2 years olds were 76% accurate in identifying their sex whereas 3 year olds were 90% accurate which shows an increase over time like Kohlberg predicted.
  3. Gender differences- Slaby and Frey found that boys tended to exhibit gender constancy before girls which may be because the role models boys tend to identify with in our society have more power than female role models and more power increases likelihood of identification
  4. Gender constancy may not be required- Kohlberg suggested that children do not acquire information about gender-appropriate behaviour until gender constancy but Martin and Little found that children under the age of 4 showed no signs of gender stability or constancy and did display strong stereotypes about boys and girls and what they were permitted to do.
35
Q

Who proposed the gender schema theory?

A

Martin and Halverston

36
Q

What is a gender schema?

A

A gender schema is a mental concept that develops via experience and is used to organise and structure other information. Children learn what toys are appropriate for each gender, what clothes to wear and so on

37
Q

How do children learn schemas related to gender?

A

From interactions with other children and adults as well as from television programmes or videos

38
Q

What is an ingroup?

A

The term ingroup refers to a group the person identifies with.

39
Q

What is an outgroup?

A

The opposite group- the group that the child has not identified with

40
Q

What happens once the child has identified with an ingroup?

A

They begin to positively evaluate their ingroup and negatively evaluate the out-group

41
Q

What happens to information that is not consistent with gender schemas/ in group information?

A

The information fails to be encoded

42
Q

Evaluate gender schema theory

A
  1. Gender identity even earlier- Zosuls observed children and their language in order to find out when they first labelling themselves as a boy or a girl. Children started using gender labels by the age of 19 months. More recent research has found children to show gender-typed preferences even earlier than this which is a challenge to gender schema
  2. Supporting evidence- Martin and Little found children under the age of 4 showing strong gender stereotypes about what girls and boys are permitted to do despite showing no signs of gender stability or gender constancy which is in line with gender schema theory
  3. Gender schemas distort information- Martin and Halverston found that when children were shown consistent or inconsistent pictures, they distorted information. For example, if they saw a boy holding a doll they would say they saw a girl holding a doll. These distorted memories search to maintain in group schemas so support gender schema theory.
  4. Counter-evidence- Hoffman reports that children whose mothers work have less stereotyped views of what men do which suggests children are not entirely fixed in their views and are receptive to osme gender-inconsistent ideas.
43
Q

According to Freud, when does gender development begin?

A

During the phallic stage when the child is between the ages of 3-6

44
Q

How does the Oedipus Complex lead to gender development?

A
  1. Boys desire their mothers, wanting her sole attention
  2. Boys see their fathers as rivals for their mother’s love and as a result, wish their fathers were dead which causes anxiety and fear of castration
  3. This complex is resolved because the boy begins to identify with his father. Through this identification, the young boy internalises his father’s gender identity
45
Q

Who proposed the Electra complex?

A

A neo-Freudian called Jung

46
Q

How does the Electra Complex lead to gender development?

A
  1. A young girl is initially attracted to her mother but this ends when the girl discovers her mother does not have a penis. The girl then blames her mother for her lack of penis believing she was castrated
  2. The girl’s sexual desires are transferred to her father
  3. The complex is resolved when the girl converts her penis envy to a wish to have a baby and this reduces her anger towards her mother and allows her to identify with her
47
Q

What happens if the phallic stage is unresolved?

A

If this stage is unresolved it results in a person who is afraid of or not capable of close love. Freud also claimed fixation could be the root cause of amoral behaviour and homosexuality

48
Q

Evaluate the psychodynamic explanation of gender development

A
  1. Research evidence- Case study of Little Hans. 5 year old boy who had a fear of horses which Freud interpreted as a fear of his father. Hans’ mother told him not to touch his penis which he associated with a man telling his daughter not to touch a horse. Hans associated his fear of castration with horses
  2. Research methodology- Case studies are rich in detailed data. However there are problems generalising which leads to low population validity. Bem found that children aged 3-5 years old didn’t know what opposite-sex genitalia looked like which would make the Oedipus/Electra complex impossible
  3. Alternatives- ignores cognitive factors such as gender schema and ignores the role of chromosomes
  4. Predictive validity- According to the Oedipus complex, children in single parent or same-sex parent families would have difficulty acquiring a gender identity. However Patterson found that sexual identities develop in the same way among children of lesbian mothers as they do among children of heterosexual parents
49
Q

What does social learning theory say about gender?

A

Gender role development is the result of learning from social agents who model and reinforce gender role behaviours

50
Q

Explain the role of indirect reinforcement (or vicarious reinforcement) in gender development

A

Children observe many examples of gender behaviour at home and at school and on television and in the media. They observe the consequences of this behaviour and gradually learn when and whether such behaviours are appropriate.
Girls are more likely to perform behaviours they observe being done by other girls and women and boys are more likely to imitate behaviour performed by males.

51
Q

Describe the role of mediational processes in gender development

A

Attention- An individual must pay attention to the model’s behaviour
Retention- Individuals must pay code and store the gender appropriate behaviour in long-term memory
Reproduction- Individuals must be capable of imitating the gender-appropriate behaviour
Motivation- Individuals must have good reason for reproducing the gender-appropriate behaviour

52
Q

Explain the role of direct reinforcement in gender development

A

If a child is rewarded for particular gender-related behaviour, they are more likely to repeat the same action

53
Q

Explain the role of direct tuition in gender development

A

Children may also learn through explicit instructions about appropriate gender behaviour. It serves as a convenient way to teach children about appropriate and inappropriate styles of conduct once they develop linguistic skills

54
Q

Explain the role of self-direction in gender development

A

Once children have internalised gender-appropriate behaviour, their own behaviour is no longer directed by rewards or punishments. They start to direct their own behaviour. For example, a girl choosing a doll to play with.

55
Q

Evaluate social learning theory as applied to gender development

A

Research evidence- Perry and Bussey. Apple and pear study with children aged 8-9 years old. The apples and pears were neutral items and it was observed that children imitated the choices made by the models

Research for importance of self-regulation and the link with age- Bussey and Bandura. Young children disapproved of other children playing with gender-inconsistent toys but were happy to play with them themselves. Older children disapproved of both. This suggests age is important

Direct tuition more important than modelling- Martin suggested direct tuition was more important as girls and boys were more likely to play with gender labelled toys rather than the ones being played with by the same gender

Ignores innate biological behaviours- Mead found that men were more aggressive in all groups she looked at in her Papua New Guinea study despite large variations in gender roles which emphasises the role of biology

56
Q

Define culture

A

The rules, customs, morals and ways of interacting that bind together members of a society or some other collection of people

57
Q

Define media

A

Tools used to store and distribute information e.g books, films, Tv, commercials and so on

58
Q

Summarise Margaret Mead’s 3 tribes findings

A
  • Arapesh men and women were found to be gentle, responsive and cooperative
  • Mundugumor men and women were violent and aggressive
  • Tchambuli women were dominant, impersonal and managerial whereas the men were more emotionally dependent
59
Q

How are men and women portrayed in the media?

A
  • Males are portrayed as independent and directive, whereas women are shown as dependent, unambitious and emotional
  • Bussey and Bandura found that men are more likely to be exercising control whereas women are more likely to be at the mercy of others
60
Q

Describe how the media allows for vicarious reinforcement

A

Seeing similar others succeed raises a person’s beliefs in their own capabilities whereas the failure of others induces self-doubt about a person’s capability to master similar abilities

61
Q

Describe how the media allows for formation of counter stereotypes

A

The media can present men or women in unusual roles. Pingree found that stereotyping was reduced when children were shown commercials with women in non-traditional roles

62
Q

Evaluate cultural and media influences on gender roles

A

Criticism of Mead- She conducted most of her research alone so she may have misinterpreted the observations and there was no one there to ensure inter-observer reliability

Contrasting evidence (cultural similarities)- Social role theory argues that men and women in any culture are biologically predisposed to perform certain tasks more efficiently such as childrearing for women and strong labour work for men

Difficult to demonstrate media influence- almost all children nowadays watch some television so there are difficulties finding control groups for comparison other than rare cases of communities with no television

Backlash to counterstereotypes- Pingree also found that pre-adolescent boys displayed stronger stereotypes after exposure to non-traditional models because they want to counter the adult view. Martin and Halverston found that gender-inconsistent messages are misremembered.

63
Q

What is gender identity disorder?

A

When an individual experiences a mismatch between their biological sex and gender identity.

64
Q

What does gender identity disorder result in?

A

The individual experiences gender dysphoria which is feelings of discomfort and feeling trapped

65
Q

What is the criteria for diagnosing gender identity disorder?

A
  • Long-standing and strong identification with another gender
  • Long-standing disquiet about the sex assigned or a sense of incongruity in the gender- assigned role of that sex
  • The diagnosis is not made if the individual also has physical intersex characteristics
66
Q

How does the transsexual gene explain GID? (biological explanation)

A
  • Hare et al 2009
  • Studied DNA of 112 male to female transsexuals
  • They had a longer version of the androgen receptor than the control sample
  • This means that there is reduced action of testosterone
  • This could result in under-masculinising of the brain
67
Q

How does the brain-sex theory explain GID? (biological explanation

A
  • Suggests GID is caused by specific brain structures that are incompatible with the person’s biological sex
  • BSTc (bed nucleus of the stria terminalis) is located in the thalamus
  • Dimorphic areas are different in males and females
  • Zhou et al found that BSTc is 40% larger in heterosexual men than heterosexual women and contains twice as many neurons
  • Brain scans have shown neurons in BSTc in male to female transsexuals were more similar to a woman and neurons in female to male transsexuals were more similar to a man
68
Q

How do mother-son relationships explain GID? (social explanation)

A
  • Stroller 1975
  • Interviews with GID males
  • Display overly close relationships with their mothers
  • Leads to greater female identification and confused gender identity in the long-term
69
Q

How do father-daughter relationships explain GID? (social explanation)

A
  • Zucker 2004
  • Female to male transsexuals
  • Severe paternal rejection in childhood
  • Unconsciously think if they become male, they might be accepted by their father
70
Q

How does mental illness explain GID? (social explanation)

A
  • Coates et al 1991
  • GID is a result of childhood trauma or poor upbringing
  • Case study of a 3 year old boy whose mother suffered from depression and the trauma resulting from that might have led to cross-gender fantasy to relieve anxiety
71
Q

Evaluate social and biological explanations of atypical gender development

A

Criticisms of brain-sex theory- Chung et al found that the differences in BSTc volume between men and women do not develop until adulthood whereas most transsexuals experience dysphoria from childhood which suggests BSTc volumes are not the cause

Support for mother-son relationships- Zucker et al studied 115 boys with concerns about their gender identity and their mothers. Of all the boys eventually diagnosed with GID, 64% were also diagnosed with separation anxiety disorder, which points to some kind of disordered attachment to a mother as a factor in GID

More than one explanation needed- Furuhashi distinguished two types of males with GID- those who have had a longing to be female since childhood (the “core” group) and those who only started feeling discomfort during adolescence ( the “periphery” group).. This suggests there should be different explanations for different types

Socially sensitive research- Researching the causes of GID could benefit or harm the individual. If a biological cause is found this may help some people be more accepting towards transsexuals, however, it could also make people wrongly assume that this is inevitable when in fact a simple cause and effect is unlikely. Either way, this research has severe social consequences.

Psychology A Level (11 decks)

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