GENDER DIFFERENCES Who are the perpetrators? Who are the victims?

DEFINITION OF SEX DIFFERENCES Psychological differences between biological males and females

DESCRIPTION OF SEX DIFFERENCES 1. PERFORMANCE SCORES ON TESTS OF Verbal abilities: Females higher Spatial abilities: Males higher Mathematical abilities: Males higher Starting in adolescence (Also more male low achievers)

Film Clip: Gender Difference Math

SEX DIFFERENCES (CONT) 2. ACTIVITY LEVEL Males greater (Starting in infancy)

SEX DIFFERENCES (CONT) 3. AGRESSION, VERBAL, & PHYSICAL Males more (Starting at age 2) About 5% of the variance

SEX DIFFERENCES (CONT) 4. COOPERATION & COMPLIANCE Females more (Starting at age 2)

SEX DIFFERENCES (CONT) 5. DEVELOPMENTAL VULNERABILITY Males greater: Infant mortality Prenatal & perinatal- stress & disease

SEX DIFFERENCES (CONT) 5. DEVELOPMENTAL VULNERABILITY (CONT) Males greater: Learning disorders learning disabilities speech defects hyperactivity mental retardation

SEX DIFFERENCES (CONT) 6. PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS Males: Externalizing Acting out, defiance Delinquency Females: Internalizing Anxiety, fear Self-esteem (esp. late adolescence)

SEX DIFFERENCES (CONT) EXPLANATIONS Evidence for NATURE Neurological differences Hormonal differences Evidence for NURTURE Environmental differences Interventions are effective Evidence for BOTH

GENDER ROLES 1. Gender Roles Patterns of behavior or “jobs” assigned to females vs. males in a particular society E.g., wife, mother, homemaker E.g., husband, father, breadwinner

GENDER ROLES 2. Gender-role norms society’s expectations or standards concerning what males & females should be like Characteristics Behaviors

Film Clip: Gender Norms in Middle Childhood

GENDER ROLES 3. Gender-role stereotypes: overgeneralized (& largely inaccurate) beliefs about what males & females are like E.g., Venus and Mars

Examples of Gender-Role Stereotypes Females: Communality Connectedness to others emotional, kind, nurturant, cooperative, & sensitive to others’ needs. Males: Agency Individual action and achievement dominant, independent, assertive, & competitive.

GENDER ROLES Androgyny possessing characteristics that are considered both highly masculine and highly feminine

ARE GENDER STEREOTYPES TRUE? No, the vast majority of gender stereotypes are not true. Males and females are much more psychologically similar than different.

WHAT DEVELOPS? GENDER TYPING 1. Gender Identity Awareness that one is male or female age 2 - 3 years old

WHAT DEVELOPS? GENDER TYPING 2. Gender constancy Sex is a stable characteristic (age 5 to 7)

WHAT DEVELOPS? GENDER TYPING 3. Acquire gender-roles Internalize motives values patterns of behavior that culture considers appropriate for members of that sex

DEVELOPMENT OF GENDER STEREOTYPES 1. 2 - 4 years Know “correct” behaviors 2. 5 - 8 years Moral standards 3. 9 - 11 years Psychological traits, customs

DEVELOPMENT OF GENDER STEREOTYPES 4. Adolescence The gender police Gender intensification Most harsh and rigid 5. Early adulthood More tolerant of self & others

DEVELOPMENT OF GENDER STEREOTYPES 6. Parenting years More stereotyped behavior “Parental imperative” 7. Post-parenting years Androgyny shift

GENDER TYPING What Influences It ? 1. Biosocial theory 2. Social learning theory 3. Cognitive theory

GENDER TYPING What Influences It ? 1. Biosocial theory Biology Chromosomes Hormones (prenatal, puberty) Social labeling Others label and react Self labels and reacts

GENDER TYPING What Influences It ? 2. Social learning theory: “Gender curriculum” Differential reinforcement Rewards and punishments Discipline, expectations Fathers especially important Observational learning Parents, siblings, peers, media

GENDER TYPING What Influences It ? 3. Cognitive theory Intrinsically motivated to belong to their own gender’s “club” Cognitive Developmental Theory Stages of understanding Self-socialization (active person) Begins with “gender consistency”?

GENDER TYPING What Influences It ? 3. Cognitive theory Cognitive Schema Theory Cognitive schema: Organized sets of beliefs and expectations about males and females Guide information that people attend to and remember In-group/ out-group schema Own-sex schema

GENDER TYPING What Influences It ? INTEGRATION 1. Biology 2. Social experiences 3. Cognitive development

SO WHAT? CONSEQUENCES OF GENDER STEREOTYPES 1. Opportunity denied. 2. Competence: Interest and practice guided by expectations. 3. Identity: Internal alienation from true self.

Film Clip: Consequences of Gender Role Stereotypes

LAST NAME, first name 1. Name 3 psychological differences between males & females. 2. Are these differences based on biology or socialization or both? 3. What are gender stereotypes? 4. At what age does “gender intensification” take place?

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