1 Psychology 320: Psychology of Gender and Sex Differences Lecture 50

2 Office Hour Invitations March 1 st, 1:30-2:30, Kenny

3 Achievement and Physical Health: 1. Are there sex differences in self-esteem? (continued) 2. Are there sex differences in mortality and morbidity?

4 By the end of today’s class, you should be able to: 1. review explanations for sex differences in global self- esteem. 3. define the term “morbidity paradox.” 2. identify sex differences in domain-specific forms of self- esteem.

5 5. contrast sex differences in mortality rates in distinct regions of the world. 4. discuss sex differences in mortality rates across the life span among Canadians.

6 Explanations for the lower levels of global self-esteem among females than males: 1.Gender roles. 2. Imbalances in cross-sex interactions in childhood. 3. Differential treatment of boys and girls in school. Are there sex differences in self-esteem? (continued)

7 5. Pervasive violence against girls and women. 4. Differential athletic participation by boys and girls. 6. Cultural emphasis on appearance among females: Body dissatisfaction is so common among females that it has been termed a “normative discontent” (Rodin et al., 1985).

8 Nevertheless, the relatively small sex difference in global self-esteem has led some theorists to caution against excessive focus upon it. This may: 2. Lead to self-fulfilling prophecies among females: 1. Result in neglect of the challenges to self-esteem that are experienced by boys and men. Females obtain higher scores than males on some domain-specific forms of self-esteem:

9 Domain-Specific Form of Self- Esteem Effect Size Athletic self-esteem.41 Appearance self-esteem.35 Behaviour conduct self- esteem -.17 Moral-ethical self-esteem-.38 Effect Sizes for Domain-Specific Forms of Self-Esteem (Gentile et al., 2009)

10 Are there sex differences in mortality and morbidity? Although males have higher mortality rates than females, females have higher morbidity rates than males.

11 1.Mortality  More males are conceived than females: (100 females: males; Stillion, 1995).  However, birth rates (100 females:105 males) suggest that male fetuses are more likely to die than female fetuses (Matthews & Hamilton, 2005).  After birth, death rates are higher for males than females at all ages, with the exception of >85 years.

AgeMaleFemale Male:Female Death Ratio 1-41, , , ,6172, ,4825, ,8299, ,75315, ,64932, > 8524,89844, Annual Number of Deaths by Sex and Age (Statistics Canada, 2010) 12

13  Consistent with these findings, the current and projected life expectancies of females in Canada and other “developed” countries exceed those of males:

MalesFemales Life expectancy at birth in 2002 Life expectancy at birth in 2031 Current and Projected Life Expectancies for Males and Females in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2010; World Factbook, 2012)

15  Sex differences in life expectancy are more variable in “developing” countries than in developed countries. Nevertheless, in the vast majority of countries, females outlive males:

CountryMaleFemaleDifference Canada79845 US76815 Australia79845 New Zealand79834 France78846 Germany76826 Great Britain77825 Italy79856 Portugal75827 Bulgaria70788 Poland72808 Romania71787 Russia Estimated Life Expectancies Around the World (World Factbook, 2009, 2012) CountryMaleFemaleDifference Cambodia61665 China73774 Philippines69756 Bangladesh58635 India66682 Nepal65683 Afghanistan48513 Iraq69723 Kuwait76793 Botswana Rwanda57603 Uganda52553 Zimbabwe

17 Achievement and Physical Health: 1. Are there sex differences in self-esteem? (continued) 2. Are there sex differences in mortality and morbidity?