1 Psychology 320: Psychology of Gender and Sex Differences November 10 Lecture 16

2 Office Hour Invitations November 12, 2:30-4:30PM, Kenny

3 Opportunity! Beauty Night Society: “1500 Christmas stockings are to be sewn, decorated, filled and delivered to impoverished women and youth in Metro Vancouver. Each year fashion designer, Nancy Perreault designs a stocking. Volunteers pick up the fabric and sew & decorate stockings. People collect mittens, socks, journals, (New and Unopened) hair care, nail care, dental, skin care, and body care products, and deliver them to one of our drop off locations. Carrie Wheeler Entertainment Group's team fill the stockings. Volunteers dressed as elves hand out the stockings at shelters, transition homes, housing locations, drop in centres, health care facilities.” Information:

Announcement 1. The grades for the October exam are now available on the course website. The mean score was 68% (SD = 18%, range = 23% – 97%). 4 Thirty-two percent of the class obtained an exam grade within the "A" range (i.e., equal to or greater than 80%).

2. The TAs are available during their office hours or by appointment to meet with you to review your exam: Deneige (TA for students with last names A-K): address: Office hours: Tuesdays, 9:50-10:50AM, Room 4038A, Audain Art Centre Beth (TA for students with last names L-Z): address: Office Hours: Thursdays, 9:50-10:50AM, Room 4038A, Audain Art Centre 5

6 Tutorial 4 of the Peer Mentor Program is scheduled at the following times: November 12, 1:00-2:00PM, Buch B218 November 13, 4:30-5:30PM, Buch B211 The discussion questions for Tutorial 4 will be posted on the course website (see Peer Mentor Program). Reminder

A little R&R …. (Review and Reflect) 7

8 Other controversies related to gender psychology include: Insufficient attention to intersectionality. A reliance on sex and gender binaries. Pathologizing of difference. Let’s Revisit …

9 Neoanalytic and Social Learning Theories of Gender Development 2. What theories illustrate the social learning view? 1. What theories illustrate the neoanalytic, gynocentric view? (continued)

10 3.describe the social cognitive theory of gender development. By the end of today’s class, you should be able to: 1. discuss Chodorow’s explanation for sex differences in personality. 2. evaluate Chodorow’s hypothesis regarding the benefits of shared parenting.

11 5.discuss trends in representations of gender across diverse forms of media. 4. identify common models of gender.

12 2. Nancy Chodorow’s Theory of Gender Development (continued)  Chodorow argued that predominantly female parenting produces female and male adults with distinct emotional needs: What theories illustrate the neoanalytic, gynocentric view? (continued)

13  Females:  Identity formation is relatively easy; involves adopting a feminine identity similar to their mother.  As girls, identify with their primary caregiver; emotional unity develops between mother and daughter.

14  Try to re-enact the emotional unity experienced with their mother in intimate relationships with men; often unsuccessful because men do not have similar relational needs:  As adults, recognize societal notion that femininity is inferior; experience ambivalence about identification with a negatively valued gender category.

15 “But families organized around women’s mothering and male dominance create incompatibilities in women’s and men’s relational needs. In particular, relationships to men are unlikely to provide for women satisfaction of the relational needs that their mothering by women and the social organization of gender have produced. The less men participate in the domestic sphere, and especially in parenting, the more this will be the case (Chodorow, 1978, p. 199).

16  Males:  As boys, have a strong sense of “oneness” with their mother, but are unable to identify with her: “Underlying, or built into, core male gender identity is an early, nonverbal, unconscious, almost somatic sense of oneness with the mother, an underlying sense of femaleness that continually, usually unnoticeably, but sometimes insistently, challenges and undermines the sense of maleness” (Chodorow, 1978, 109).

17  Identity formation is relatively difficult; involves: (b) developing a conception of masculinity with which to identify. (a) rejecting the feminine identity of their mother (i.e., “fleeing from femininity”). Results in a fear of/contempt for females and devaluation of femininity.

18  Chodorow’s theory suggests that shared parenting between females and males would reduce negative attitudes toward females and, thus, result in more egalitarian gender roles and relationships.  Research (e.g., Kaschack, 1992) has not fully supported this assertion (also see Chodorow, 1999).

19 What theories illustrate the social learning view? The social learning view emphasizes social influences and learning processes in gender development. Three theories illustrate the social learning view:

20 1.Social Cognitive Theory  Maintains that the characteristics of females and males diverge because they learn sex-appropriate characteristics from distinct models.

21  Research indicates that people are more likely to imitate a model when the model: is of the same sex as the observer. behaves in a gender-role congruent way.

22  Models may be “real-life” models or symbolic models: parents. peers. toys. books. television programs. advertisements. music videos. computer games.

Common Toys for Girls 23

Common Toys for Boys 24

“Classic” Books for Children 25

26  Contemporary research (e.g., Diekman & Murnen, 2004; Gooden & Gooden, 2001) indicates that: Females and males are presented as the main character in children’s books with equal frequency. Males are featured more frequently in illustrations than females. Males are depicted in more varied roles than females.

27 Both sexes continue to be portrayed in gender-typical ways. In contrast to “sexist” books, “nonsexist” books present females as more masculine but do not present males as more feminine.

The Berenstain Bears Little Bear Children’s and TV Series Real Housewives (of Vancouver) Homeland Mighty Machines Gossip Girl 28 The Bachelor Mad Men Game of Thrones

 Signorielli & Lears (1992), Rivadeneyra & Ward (2005), Zurbiggen & Morgan (2006): Found a positive correlation between time spent watching television and the extent to which children and adults hold gender-role stereotypes. 29

Vintage Advertisements 30

Contemporary Advertisements 31

Contemporary Advertisements 32

Contemporary Advertisements 33

34  Coltrane & Messineo (2000): Found that women are more likely to be depicted as sex objects and in domestic settings and men are more likely to be depicted as aggressive and instrumental. However, depictions varied across racial groups:

% Percentage of Characters in Commercials by Sex, Activity and Race (Coltrane & Messineo, 2000) 35

36  Adaptation of social cognitive theory to gender non- conformity?

37 3.describe the social cognitive theory of gender development. By the end of today’s class, you should be able to: 1. discuss Chodorow’s explanation for sex differences in personality. 2. evaluate Chodorow’s hypothesis regarding the benefits of shared parenting.

38 5.discuss trends in representations of gender across diverse forms of media. 4. identify common models of gender.