Chapter 2 Flashcards
(22 cards)
Social structure theories
theories that female-male differences in behavior are driven by the ways societies are organized, in particular by gender differences in power and status and the division of labour by sex.
Social dominance theory
postulates that, in societies that emphasize group dominance, women and men tend to differ on social dominance orientations such that women adhere more to hierarch-attenuating values and men adhere more to hierarchy-enhancing values.
44) Social role theory
a theory that differential role occupancy by women and men is mediated by the formation of gender roles in which persons of each sex are expected to have qualities that equip them for the tasks typically carried out by that group.
45) Evolutionary theory
a theory that human nature has evolved in certain ways because of pressures to adapt and survive as a species.
46) Sociobiology
the approach to the study of biology that perceives sex differences in human behavior to have evolved because of different reproductive strategies adopted by males and females to maximize the chances that their genes will be passed on to future generations.
47) Evolutionary psychology 47)
a theoretical approach that tries to explain the development of the mind and mental abilities by means of adaptation to selection pressures in the environment
48) Biosocial theory
argues that male-female differences and similarities derive from interactions between the physical attributes of men and women and the social contexts in which they live.
49) Social learning theory
a theory that states that the child develops both gender identity and gender role through a learning process that involves modeling, imitation, and reinforcement.
50) Social cognitive theory
a modification of social learning theory that suggests that, although children may initially learn gender roles through external rewards and punishments, as they mature they begin to regulate their own actions through internal rewards and punishments
51) Group socialization theory
a theory that children become socialized primarily by identifying with their peer group and taking on that group’s norms for attitudes and behavior.
52) Cognitive developmental theory
– a theory that proposes that gender, like other concepts, cannot be learned until a child reaches a particular stage of intellectual development
53) Gender constancy
an understanding that a person’s gender is fixed and cannot be altered by a change in hairstyle, dress, or name and that is achieved by a child, according to cognitive developmental theory, sometime between the ages of 3 and 5
54) Schema
a cognitive structure that guides and organizes the way an individual processes and makes sense of information.
55) Gender schematic
having a strong gender schema and having a tendency to spontaneously sort people, characteristics, and behaviors into masculine and feminine categories
56) Gender aschematic
having a weak gender schema
57) Gender schema theory
a theory that, early on, children develop a network of cognitive associations for gender based on the degree to which the gender dichotomy is emphasized during socialization and that they use this to organize incoming information about themselves and others.
58) Cumulative continuity
the process through which an individual, beginning in childhood, selects and creates environments that fit her or his preferred forms of behavior; these selected environments, in turn, reinforce and sustain that behavior.
59) Interactional continuity
two-way transactions between the person and the social environment in which the person’s behavior elicits reactions from others an in which those reactions promote continuity in the original behavior through reinforcement, confirmation of expectations, and confirmation of the person’s self-concept.
60) Interactive model of gender-related behavior
a model built on the proposition that an individual’s gender-related behaviors in a given social interaction are influenced by what others expect, what the individual belies about her- or himself, and situational cues.
61) Gender belief system
a set of ideas that people have about gender, including stereotypes about the characteristics of women and men, attitudes about the social roles occupied by women and men, and views about their own gender identity.
62) Alpha bias
a tendency toward exaggerating differences between women and men
63) Beta bias
an inclination to ignore or minimize differences between women and men
