1 Psychology 320: Psychology of Gender and Sex Differences Lecture 25

2 Office Hour Invitations November 18 th, 11:30-12:30 Kenny

3 1. Vintage and Contemporary Sexist TV Commercials Available at: 07/Top-10-sexist-screen-ads.html 2. Dove Campaign: Available at: Gender-Related Video Clips

4 Announcements 1. Trans Day of Remembrance is on November 20 th. The annual TDOR march will run from 5:30-8:30 PM. It will begin at the Carnegie Community Centre (401 Main Hastings) and end at the SFU Harbour Centre, Segal Room 1400/1410 (515 West Hastings). UBC Pride will observe TDOR on Friday, November 18 th : Trans 101 workshop: 3:30-5:30, Sub room 214 Candle light Vigil: 5:30-6:00, North Entrance of SUB Trans Panel & discussion: 18:00-20:00 in Sub room 216 Food, drinks & music!: 20:00-23:30.

5 2.Miss Representation is a documentary film that explores women's under-representation in positions of power and influence in America and challenges the limited portrayal of women in mainstream media Trailer: The Greater Vancouver Young Women in Business (YWiB) will be hosting a screen of this film on the evening of December 5 th. For further information, visit:

6 Social Learning and Cognitive Theories of Gender Development 1. What theories illustrate the social learning view? (continued) 2. What theories illustrate the cognitive view?

7 By the end of today’s class, you should be able to: 2. review evidence that supports the social role theory of gender development. 3. describe the stages of gender development identified by cognitive developmental theory. 1. describe the social role theory of gender development.

8 4. review evidence that supports and fails to support cognitive developmental theory. 5. define the term “gender schema.”

9 3. Social Role Theory  Maintains that the characteristics of females and males diverge because they are assigned to social roles (e.g., domestic roles, occupational roles) that require distinct attributes. What theories illustrate the social learning view? (continued)

10  According to this theory: “women and men seek to accommodate sex-typical roles by acquiring the specific skills and resources linked to successful role performance and by adapting their social behaviour to role requirements” (Eagly & Wood, 1999).

11  Thus, females are more likely than males to develop expressive characteristics because they are assigned to roles (e.g., homemaker, teacher, nurse) that require these attributes.  Males are more likely than females to develop instrumental characteristics because they are assigned to roles (e.g., executive, politician, military officer) that require these attributes.

12  Consistent with social role theory: (a) females are more likely than males to be employed in occupations that require expressivity; males are more likely than females to be employed in occupations that require instrumentality:

OccupationPercent Female Lawyer30 Police officer14 Securities salesperson29 Chief executive24 Marketing manager41 Social worker80 Counsellor70 Teacher72 Librarian85 Child-care provider95 Registered nurse92 Secretary97 Wait staff78 Cleaner90 13 Percentage of Females in Distinct Occupations (US Bureau Labor Statistics, 2005)

14 (b) people are more likely to ascribe expressive characteristics to traditionally “female” social roles and instrumental characteristics to traditionally “male” social roles:

15 EmployeeHomemaker Female Communal Agentic Male Communal Agentic Mean Ratings of Females and Males in Varied Occupations (Eagly & Steffen, 1984)

16 What theories illustrate the cognitive view? The cognitive view emphasizes the development of gender-related cognitions. According to this view, “children are neither pushed by their biological desires nor pulled by external rewards and punishments. Instead, children are active learners, attempting to make sense of the social environment” (Kohlberg, 1966). Two theories illustrate the cognitive view:

17 1. Cognitive Developmental Theory  Maintains that children pass through three stages of cognitive development during which they acquire gender constancy: the belief that their gender is irreversible and fixed. Stage 1: Gender identity. Stage 2: Gender stability. Stage 3: Gender consistency.  Proposed by Lawrence Kohlberg.

18  A number of studies have provided support for Kohlberg’s theory: E.g., Rubel et al., 2007: Assessed gender stability and gender consistency in children between 3 and 7 years of age:

19 Gender Stability and Consistency As a Function of Age (Rubel et al., 2007)

20  However, two tenets of the theory have not been supported by research: After gender constancy is achieved: (a) children begin to “value” their gender identity and, thus, begin to demonstrate sex-typed preferences and behaviour. (b) children become more rigid about the appropriateness of sex-typed preferences and behaviour.

21 Self-Rigidity As a Function of Age (Rubel et al., 2007)

22 Consider the following: A father and his son were involved in a car accident in which the father was killed and the son was seriously injured. The father was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident and his body was taken to a local mortuary. The son was taken by ambulance to a hospital and was immediately wheeled into an operating room. A surgeon was called. Upon seeing the patient, the attending surgeon exclaimed, “Oh my God, it’s my son!” Can you explain this?

23 2. Gender Schema Theory  Maintains that children engage in sex-typed behaviour as a consequence of social learning and cognitive development, both of which contribute to the development of gender schemas.  Proposed by Sandra Bem as an advancement over the two-dimensional model of gender.

24  Gender schemas: Organized knowledge structures about the sexes, their characteristics, and their preferences; networks of associations related to sex and gender.

25 Consider the following: A father and his son were involved in a car accident in which the father was killed and the son was seriously injured. The father was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident and his body was taken to a local mortuary. The son was taken by ambulance to a hospital and was immediately wheeled into an operating room. A surgeon was called. Upon seeing the patient, the attending surgeon exclaimed, “Oh my God, it’s my son!” Can you explain this?

26 Nurse Female Gentle Homemaker Empathetic Teacher Skirts Nurturant Female Schema Mom Sister Makeup Cooking Sewing Long hair Social worker

27 Male Ambitious Breadwinner Independent Business executive Neck ties Assertive Male Schema Father Brother Suits Football Hockey Short hair Consruction worker Surgeon

28 Social Learning and Cognitive Theories of Gender Development 1. What theories illustrate the social learning view? (continued) 2. What theories illustrate the cognitive view?