16 MARKERS Flashcards
A01- Atypical Sex Differences
- peoplw with atypical chromosome patterns have combinations that differ to XX or XY pattern
- Klinefelter’s syndrome have an extra X Chromosome (XXY) found in Men
> reduces body hair, testes, breat development and they have long limbs
> can have poorly developed language skills - Turners Syndrome have an absence of an X chromosome- found in females
> have no menstrual cycle, webbed kneck
> lower performance of spatial + visual memory
A03- Atypical Sex Differences
Practical Applications
Study- Horhilly et al, studies 87 with Klinefelter syndrome found those diagnosed and treated younger had significant health benefits
Studies Atypical People
Lacks generalisability to the wider population, difficult to draw behavioural and psychologically conclusions
Contribute to Nature- Nurture Debate
Comparing people with these conditions help to see psychologically and behavioural differences, suggests impact of nature
Environment Explanation
Environmental and social influences are more responsible for behavioural differences seen in these individuals
A01- Androgyny
- Androgyny- displays a balance of both masculine and feminine
- Sandara Bem developed BSRI to measure different aspects of hypothesised psychological gender traits
- Bem asked 50 male and 50 female to rate 200 traits on desirability
> selected 20 masc, 20 fem and 20 neutral traits
> 600 pots asked to rate each item on a scale 1 to 7 - high scores on masc and fem = androgyny
- Bem hypothesised the idea that people were androgynous were psychologically healthier
A03- Androgyny
(1) Simplified
- Gender identity cannot be reduced to a single score. (It is a more global concept and we must also consider the person’s interests - The BSRI is overly simple).
(2)
- Has been found to be both reliable and valid. (Piloting the BSRI on over 1000 students confirmed that BSRI reflected their gender identity).
(3)
-Questionnaires are subjective and biased. (Responses may be influenced by social desirability bias/demand characteristics).
(4)
- Temporal validity as it was made over 40 years ago
A01- Gender Roles
- Social Learning theorists see gender role behaviour to be influenced by the environment and socialisation
- Culture, refers to the ideas, customers and social behaviour of a group of people or society
- if you can conclude the gender-role behaviour is consistent across all cultures we may be able to conclude that specific behaviour is innate
Study- Mead
~ investigated gender differences with 3 tribes in Papa New Guinea
~ found various differences: one had typically feminine behaviour in both males and females, another men and women had masculine traits
~ suggests that gender behaviour is influenced by culture
Study- Buss
~ found consistent patterns of gender behaviour in 37 countries
~ women were seen to seek men with wealth and resources
~ men seemed youth and physical attractiveness
A03- Gender Roles
[Criticised]
Meads research had observer bias and made generalisations from just short time
Freeman, conducted a follow up found Mead had been mislead by some pps
William and Bett, created a questionnaire and it is criticised as there is ‘neutral’ option, pps forced to make a choice, exaggerates differences in males and females
[Culture Bias]
Cross-cultural research = imposed etic
> carried out by western researchers, may impose own cultural interests
Gives flawed conclusions, findings not completely accurate
[Nature- Nurture Debate{
Studies show impact of nurture
However more correct to look at the interactionist approach, some elements are biologically others are influences socially
> explains both similarities and differences
[Role of Media]
TV, magazines provide kids with role models, the child will identify with and imitate
SLT suggest children select models of the same sex and shown in Kholbergs Theory with gender constancy
Rigid gender roles set
A01- Kohlbergs theory
- cognitive developmental theory refers to the way that thinking changes with age and our understanding of the world
- Kohlberg argued that children undergo a set of stages in understanding gender
> 1st stage: Gender Identity, can identify themselves,
> 2nd stage: Gender Stability, other peoples gender are highly influence by external looks, know they stay the same gender
> 3rd stage: Gender Constancy, recognises that gender remains constant across time and situations
A03- Kohlberg Theory
[Supporting Evidence]
Supporting research evidence - (Slaby and Frey 1975). Showed children images of males and females doing the same tasks. Younger children spent equal time watching males and females. Children in the gender constancy stage spent longer looking at the same sex because they identified with them.
Universality
Applying Kohlberg’s concept to other cultures enables us to test whether his ideas of gender development are universal and biological and not just social, cultural
Study- Munroe studied several culture, included Kenya found that Kohlberg’s stages were reflected
> shows stages are universal
[Contradicting evidence]
Gender-appropriate behaviour might begin earlier - (Bussey and Bandura 1992). Children as young as 4 years old reported ‘feeling good’ about playing with gender-appropriate toys, and ‘bad’ about doing the opposite.
[ questionable validity?)
The validity of original interviews is questionable. They were conducted with children as young as 2 or 3 years old. The questions were tailored to their age. The children’s ideas about gender may have been more complex than they were able to articulate.
A01- Chromosomes and hormones in sex and gender
- chromosomes are collection of DNA in the nucleus of cells and humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes
- the structure for females is XX and for males is XY
- human eggs provide the X chromosome and the sperm provides either another X or Y chromosome
- the Y chromosome results in the development of male genitalia and produces androgens
- chromosomes determine a persons sex, hormones bring about gender development
> testosterone masculinises the brain of XY embryos leading to greater development of areas associated with spatial skills
> testosterone is linked to masculine behaviours
> oestrogen female sex hormone determines female sexual characteristics
> oxytocin ‘lover hormone’, involved in bonding and released during hugging. It produced in breastfeeding
A03- Role of chromosomes and hormones
[Evidence to support the role of chromosome]
David Reimer born a baby boy, after a botched circumcision the penis was burnt off, psychologists Dr Money recommended he was brought up a girl
> ‘Brenda’ suffered psychological and emotional problems
Important: shows chromosomal influence is more powerful than socialisation in gender development
[Supporting evidence for role of hormones]
(Dabbs et al 1995). In a prison population, offenders with the highest levels of testosterone were more likely to have committed violent or sexually-motivated crimes.
[Oversimplification of chromosome and hormones]
Biological approach takes a reductionist approach, reduces gender to the lowest possible explanation of chromosomes and hormones, ignores other factors
Bio social explanation, considers socialisation we receive determines our gender identity, accounts childhood experiences
[Contradictory evidence]
Some evidence is contradictory - (Tricker et al 1996). Gave males either 10-weekly injections of testosterone or a placebo and found no significant differences in aggression.
A01- Culture and Media on Gender Roles
- Social learning theorists see gender-role behaviour to be influenced by the environment and socialisation
- Key Area = culture
-> If a particular gender-role behaviour appears consistent across different cultures, we could conclude to be innate
Mead investigated with 3 tribes in Pappa New Guinea
> Arapesh, males and females female behaviour
> Mundugamor, both men and women masc traits
> Tchumabuli, reverse of typical western gender behaviour
Buss found that there were consistent patterns of gender behaviour in 37 countries
Williams found that there was a universal agreement across all cultures of which characteristics were masculine and feminine
A03- Culture and Media on Gender Roles
Research into influence of culture on gender roles criticised
Mead’s research had observer bias, made generalisations
William research criticsed because their questionnaire featured no ‘neutral’ option
Further criticism
[Imposed etic - ]
Imposed etic may affect the validity of the findings. Cross-cultural research is typically undertaken by Western researchers, using theories and methods developed in the West. Therefore, it is suggested that they impose their own understanding upon the people they are studying. As a result, conclusions may not be valid.
[Raises the Nature-Nurture debate]
Doesn’t solve the nature-nurture debate, should consider interactionist approach
[ Furham and Farraghan]
Found that men were more likely to be shown in autonomous roles within professional contexts, while women were seen in domestic settings.
