Gender (P3) Flashcards

Question

What is the female sex chromosone? | The role of chromosones and hormones

Answer 1

* Carries a gene called the sex-determining region Y **(SRY)** * Causes the testes to develop and androgens to be produced in a male embryo * Without androgens the embryo develops into a female

Answer 2

* Prenatally hormones act upon brain development and cause development of reproductive organs * At puberty a burst of hormonal activity triggers the development of secondary sexual characteristics (e.g. pubic hair) * Male and females produce same hormones at different concentrations

Answer 3

* Controls development of male sex organs from the 5th month of foetal development * Linked to aggressive behaviour in both genders * **Van de Poll et al** - female rats injected with testosterone became more physically and sexually aggressive ## Footnote * Key in male development and aggression

Answer 4

* Controls female sexual characteristics including menstruation * During menstrual cycle some women experience heightened emotionality and irritability - pre-menstural tension or pre-menstrual syndrome (diagnosable disorder) * PMS has been used as a defence for violent behaviour in women (controversial)

Answer 5

* Women produce it in higher amounts than men * Stimulates lactation post birth * Reduces the stress hormone cortisol * Facilitates bonding * May explain why females are more interested in intimacy in relationships than men * Amounts are the same in men and women when kissing and cuddling

Answer 6

1. Research support ## Footnote 1. Research support * **Dabbs et al (1995)** * Found in a prison population that offenders with highest levels of testosterone were more likely to have committed violent or sexually-motivated crimes * **Van Goozen et al (1995)** * Found male-to-female transitions (having oestreogen treatment) showed decreases in aggression, female-to-male showed opposite * Support role of sex hormones in gender-related behaviours **COUNTERPOINT** contradictory evidence * **Tricker et al (1996)** * Gave males either 10-weekly injections of testosterone or a placebo and found no significant differences in aggression * **Slabbekoorn et al (1999)** * Demonstrated sex hormones had no consistent effect on gender-related behaviour

Answer 7

1. Reductionist 2. Overemphasis on nature ## Footnote 1. * Biological approaches that reduce gender to the level of chromosones and hormones mau be accused of ignoring alternative explanations for gender devlopment * Other approaches stess thought processes or childhood experiences * Soley focusing on biological understanding ignores other possible influences to a more complex process in gender development * Limited partial explanation 2, * SLT points to social context in learning of our gender identity and role suggeting it is not considered when focusing on biology * Biological explanation cannot easily explain cross-cultural differences * In western society genders are becoming more androgynous but this is less so elsewhere * Suggests too much emphasis in this approach to understanding sex and gender

Answer 8

A syndrome affecting males in which an individual's genotype has an extra X chromosone characterised by a tall thin physiquee, small infertile testes and enlarged breasts

Answer 9

1 in 750 males

Answer 10

up to 66% ## Footnote Diagnosis often comes about accidentally via a medical examination for an unrelated condition

Answer 11

* Reduced body hair compared to a typical male * Some breast development at puberty (gynaecomastia) * Underdeveloped genitals * More susceptible to health problems typically associated with females e.g. breast cancer

Answer 12

* Poorly developed language skills * Passive, shy and lacking interest in sexual activity * Tend not to respond well to stressful situations * Problems with executive functions e.g. problem solving

Answer 13

A chromosonal disorder in which affected women have only one X chromosone (denoted as XO) causing developmental abnormalities and infertility

Answer 14

1 in 5000 females

Answer 15

Absence of one of the 2 X chromosones leading to 45 rather than 46 chromosones

Answer 16

* No menstrual cycle as ovarues fail to develop leaving them sterile * A broad shield chest and no developing of breasts at puberty * Characteristic low set ears and a webbed neck * Hips are much bigger than waist

Answer 17

* Higher than average reading ability * Lower-than-average performance on spatial, visual memory and mathematical tasks * Tendency to be socially immature

Answer 18

1. Contribution to nature-nurture debate 2. Practical applications ## Footnote 1. nature-nurture * Comparing chromosone-typical individuals highlights psychological and behavioural differences * E.g. Turner's syndrome, higher verbal ability than typical females * Might logically infer that these differences have a biological basis resulting from abnormal chromosal structures * Adds to understanding of nature-nurture debate and suggests innate influences have a powerful effect on physchology and behaviour 2. * **Herlihy et al (2011)** * Showed individuals identified and treated from a very young age had significant benefits compared to those who had been diagnosed in adulthood * Further research will increase likelihood of earlier diagnosis and an increased understanding of issues faced by those with these syndromes * Research has a direct benefit to those with these atypical chromosone patterns as well as increasing our understanding of atypical development

Answer 19

1. Samples are unrepresentative and atypical 2. Typical sex and gender may have been exaggerated ## Footnote 1. * Individuals with unusual conditions are unikely to be treated same way as their peers (especially when impacting physical characteristics) * Difficult to detangle contribution of nature and nurture to gender differences * Difficult to generalise from cases studied to all people who may have the condition espcially as life experiences may have a significant impact 2. * If research contributes to nature-nurture debate then we are assuming that we can compare atypical and typical gender behaviours * Studies like Maccoby and Jacklin (1974) identified more significantly within sexes then between them questioning whether there are typical behaviours * Means reserch may have a limited role in helping our understanding of usual development of sex and gender

Answer 20

* Cognitive - because of a child's thinking about gender is emphasised * Developmental - concerned with changes over time

Answer 21

* **Piaget** proposed the way a child thinks changes with age * Become capable of more logical and abstract thinking * Kohlberg applied to gender developemnt and identified 3 stages in gender development related to Piaget's ideas * Gradual transitions between stages * Consequently ages are approximate

Answer 22

Gender identity (from around 2yrs) ## Footnote * Children able to correctly identify themselves as boy or girl * Assumed to have developed gender identity * By 3yrs most are able to identify others as male or female * Understanding of gender is limited to labelling * No sense of permanent gender

Answer 23

Gender stability (from around 4yrs) ## Footnote * Realise they will stay the same gener * Challenging to apply this logic to other people and other situations

Answer 24

Gender constancy (from about 6 yrs) ## Footnote * Now recognise gender remains constant and consistent across time and situations * Can apply this to others

Answer 25

* Start of a search for gender-appropiate role models to identify with and imitate * Kohlberg suggests once chid has a fully developed and internalised concept of gender at constancy stage they look for supporting evidence

Answer 26

1. Research support 2. Support from biological approch ## Footnote 1. research support * **Slaby and Frey (1975)** * Showed children images of males and females doing the same tasks * Young children spent equal time watching males and females * Children in gender constancy stage spent longer looking at same sex as they identified with them * Supports idea that children change the way the process information about same and opposite sex people as they age 2. Biological approach * Stages heaviy influenced to changes in developing child's brain and subsequent cognitive and intellectual maturation * Biological basis of they supported by **Munroe et al** cross-cultural evidence of Kohlberg's stages in Kenya, Nepal etc * Universality

Answer 27

1. Validity of original interviews is questionable 2. SLT challenges a focus on maturation ## Footnote 1. Validity * Kohlberg's original interviews were conducted with children as young as 2 or 3yrs * Questions tailored to their age * However Kohlberg may not have acknowledged that their ideas about gender may have been more complex then they could articulate * Support offered for theory is limited and invalid 2. SLT * Evidence suggests boys have a less flexibile concept of gender role and show greater resistance to opposite-sex activities than girls * Cannot be explained by a maturation thoery * Suggests SLT plays a greater role in gender development than Kohlberg suggested * Understanding of gender in terms of thinking may be too simple * SLT focus on role of socialisation may be more appropoate explation

Answer 28

An organised set of beliefs and expectations related to gender that are derived from experience. Such schema guides a person's understanding of their gender and gender-appropiate behaviour in general

Answer 29

* Martin and Halverson's GST is also cognitive-developmental * Thinking changes with age * Suggests children actively structure their own learning of gender

Answer 30

* Schema - mental constructs that develop via experience (some basic present at birth) * Used to organise knowledge * Gender schema contains what we know in relation to gender and gender-appropiate behaviour

Answer 31

* After gender identity * First a child establishes a gender identity (around 2-3yrs) * Child begins to searh for further information to develop their schema

Answer 32

* Much earlier than Kohlberg suggested * GST proposed a more gradual and earlier development process

Answer 33

* Gender-appropiate schema expanded over time to include a range of behaviours and personality traits based on stereotypes * Schema direct the child's behaviour * Reinforces existing ideas about gender * By 6yrs children have acquired a fixed and stereotypical idea about what is gender appropiate

Answer 34

Their own gender

Answer 35

Opposite sex

Answer 36

* Children pay more attention to and have a better understanding of the schema appropiate to the ingroup than outgroup * Ingroup identity raises child's self-esteem and there is a tendency to judge ingroup members more positive

Answer 37

Around 8yrs

Answer 38

1. Research support 2. Can explain young children's rigid gender beliefs ## Footnote 1. Research support * Martin and Halverson * Found children under age 6 remebered more photographs of gender-consistent behaviour than of gender-inconsistent behaviour a week later * Tended to change the sex of person carrying out the inconsistent activity * Martin and Little * Found children under age 4 despite lack of gender stability and constancy still ddemonstrated strongly sex-typed behaviours and attitudes * Support for gender shcema * Challenges Kohlberg * GST may be a more valid explanation 2. Children's rigid beliefs * Idea of ingroup schema explains why children discount information that conflxts with existing schema in favour of information that confirms ingroup schema * Children display ingroup bias in paying more attention to information that is relevant to their own experience * Suggests that GST can explain many aspects of young children's thinking about gender

Answer 39

1. Importance of schema has been overexaggerated 2. There may be no link between schema and behaviour ## Footnote 1. Schema overexaggerated * Focuses on cognitive factors at expense of social factors (parental influence and reinforcement) isn't desirable * Overlooking social factors means it does not explain why gender schema develop and take the form they do * Suggests GST oversimplifies process of gender development 2. No link * A prediction is that schema determine behaviour * Gender behaviour can be changed by challengin schema or stereotype * But schema do not always determine behaviour * Challenes GST * Basis of theory is that attitudes do determine behaviour

Answer 40

* 5 psycho-sexual stages 1. Oral 2. Anal 3. Phallic 4. Latent 5. Genital

Answer 41

* Children have no concept of gender identity * They're bisexual in the sense that they're neither masculine or feminine

Answer 42

* Around 3-6yrs * Boys experience Oedipus complex * Girls experience Electra complex

Answer 43

* **Desire for mother** * **Hatred for father** * During phallic stage boys develop incestous feelings towards their mother * They feel jealous hatred for their father who has what the boy desires * Boys recognise their father is more powerful * Fear that on discovering their desire for their mother their father will castrate them

Answer 44

* Developed by Jung * Resentment of mother and in competition with her * During phallic stage girls feel competition with their mother for their father's love * Girls resent their mother because they believe they're responsible for their lack of penis

Answer 45

* **Identification with same-sex parent** * **Boy**, conflict between desires and fear of castration is resolved when boy gives up his love of mother and begins to identify with father * **Girls**, acknowledge they will never have the penis they desire. Substitute this with a desire to have children and through this identifity with the mother

Answer 46

* Internalisation * Boys adopt attitudes and values of their father * Girls adopt those of their mother * Freud referred to this process as internalisation of parents' identity * Happens all at once

Answer 47

* 5yr old boy * Fear of being bitten by a horse * Fear appeared to stem from when he saw a horse collapse and die in the street * Freud interpreted Han's fear as representing his fear of being castrated by the father because of his love for his mother (Oedipus complex) * Suggested Hans displaces his fear of his father onto horses via a defence mechanism

Answer 48

1. Support for role of Oedipus complex in gender development ## Footnote * Freud's explanation of gender development means that boys normal development depends on being raised by at least one male parent * **Rekers and Morey** * Rated the gender identity of 49 boys aged 3-11 based on interviews with their families and the children * Of those judged 'gender disturbed' 75% had no male father figure * Supports Freud's idea tht no father may have a negative impact upon gender identity **COUNTERPOINT** * Generally relationship between absent fathers and problems with gender identity isn't supported * **Bos and Sandfort** * Compared data from 63 children where both parents were lesbians and 68 from traditional families * Children raised by lesbian parents felt less pressure to conform to gender stereotypes and less likely to assume their own gender as superior * No difference in gender identity * Contradicts research support and Freud's theory

Answer 49

1. Does not fully explain female development 2. Freud's method of investigation lack scientific rigour ## Footnote 1. Female development * Freud's idea of penis envy criticised as merely reflecting the era he lived and worked in where males dominated * **Horney** * Argued that men's womb envy was more prominent (a reaction to women's ability to nurture and sustain life) * Challenges idea that female gender development was founded on a desired to be like men (androcentric bias) 2. Lack of scientific rigour * Freud based his account on unconcsious concepts which make the theory untestable * According to Popper this makes Freud's theory pseudoscientific as his key ideas cannot be falsified * Means Freud's theory has less value than other theories

Answer 50

A way of explaining behaviour that includes both direct and indirect reinforcement combining learning theory with the role of cognitive factors

Answer 51

Learned observation and reinforcement in a social context

Answer 52

* Differentially reinforced * E.g. boys may be praised for being active and assertive but punished for being passive * Differential association explains why boys and girls learn distinctly different gender behaviours - reinforced for different behaviours they reproduce

Answer 53

* If consequences of another person's behaviour are favourable that behaviour is more likely to be imitated by a child * E.g. Girl sees her mother being complimented when wearing dresses/make-up

Answer 54

* If consequences of behaviour are seen to be unfavourable behaviour is less likely to be imitated * E.g. if a boy sees another boy teased for displaying feminine behaviour they're unlikely to imitate it

Answer 55

* Child will identify with those around them that they perceive as 'like me' or like someone 'I want to be'

Answer 56

* Part of the child's immediate environment (parents, teachers, siblings etc) * In the media * Attractive, high status * Same sex as child

Answer 57

* A mother may model stereotypically feminine behaviour when tidying house/preparing dinner * When a girl copies her mother's behaviour she is modelling the behaviour she has observed

Answer 58

The cognitive factors that determine the production of an observed behaviour

Answer 59

1. Attention 2. Retention 3. Motivation 4. Motor reproduction

Answer 60

1. Research support for differential reinforcement 2. Can explain changing gender roles ## Footnote 1. Resarch support * **Smith and Lloyd** * Observed adults with 4-6 month old babies who were dressed half the time in boys' clothes and other half in girls' clothes * Babies assumed to be boys encouraged to be adventurous, active and given a hammer shaped rattle * Babies assumed to be girls were reinforced for passivity, given a doll, praised for being pretty * Suggests gender-appropiate behaviour is present at an early age through differential reinforcement and supports SLT 2. Changing gender roles * Stereotypically masculine and feminine behaviour is less rigid than it was * SLT can explain it as a shift in social norms leading to changes in what is reinforced * There has been no corresponding change in people's basic biology within the same period so biological approach cannot explain this * SLT offers a more complete explanation than alternatives

Answer 61

1. Does not fully consider biological factors 2. SLT cannot explain unconscious influences ## Footnote 1. Biological factors * **David Reimer** * Biological male * Castrated at birth * Raised as female * Male identity * Suggests it is not poosible to override biological influence * Accepted there are innate differences between boys and girls and these are reinforced through social interaction and cultural expectations * SLT provides a partial explanation 2. Unconscious influences * SLT and Freud explains gender development through identification with same-sex individuals * Theories differ in level of consciousness * SLT suggests mediational process are conscious whereas Freud talks in terms of unconscious processes * Assumption our gender behaviour id determined by factors within our control may be a limitation of SLT

Answer 62

The ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular group of people in society

Answer 63

Communication channels such as TV, film, and books through which news, entertainment, education, and data are made available

Answer 64

If a gender behaviour is consistent acriss cultures it is considered innate or biological

Answer 65

If a gender behaviour is culturally specific we consider this due to the influence of shared norms and socialisation

Answer 66

* **Mead** * Research on tribal groups of New Guinea supported the cultural determination of gender roles

Answer 67

* Gentle * Responsive * Similar to Western stereotype of femininity

Answer 68

* Aggressive * Hostile * Similiar to Western stereotype of masculinity

Answer 69

* Women were dominant * They organise village life * Men passive and decorative * Reverse of Western gender behaviour

Answer 70

* Buss * Found consistent mate preferences in 37 countries * Studied across all continents in all cultures * Women sought men offering wealth and resources * Men sought youth and physical attractiveness * Munroe and Munroe * In most societies division of labour is organised along gender lines

Answer 71

* Same-sex media role models preferred * Children are most likely to imitate role models who are the same sex as them and engage in gender appropiate behaviour * Maximises chance of gender-appropiate behaviours being reinforced

Answer 72

* **Bussey and Bandura** * Found media provides clear gender stereotypes * Men are independent, ambitious, and advice-givers * Women are dependent, unambitious, and advice-seekers * **Furham and Farragher** * Men shown more in autuonomous roles within professional contexts * Women often seen in familial roleswithin domestic contexts

Answer 73

* **McGhee and Frueh** * Found children who have more exposure to popular forms of media tend to display more gender-stereotypical views in their behaviour and attitudes * People gain information through the media about the likely success or otherwise of adopting gender-typical behaviours (vicarious reinforcement)

Answer 74

1. Research support ## Footnote * **Hofstede** * Argues in industrialised cultures the changing status and expectations of women are a function of their increasingly active role in the workplace and away from the domestic sphere * Led to breakdown of traditional stereotypes in advanced industrialised societies * in traditional societies women still occupy the role of house-maker as a result of social, cultural and religious pressures * Gender roles determined by cultural context

Answer 75

1. Mead's research ## Footnote * Has been criticised * Accused of making generalisations based on short period of study * **Freeman** * Conducted a follow-up study of the Samoan people after Mead's investigation * Argued Mead's findings were flawed as she had been misled by some participants * Her preconceptions of what she would find had influenced her reading of events * Observer bias * Ethnocentrism

Answer 76

1. Cultivation theory ## Footnote * Has a theoretical basis * Argues that more time individuals spend living in media world the more likely they are to beleive that this reflects social reality * **Bond and Drogos** * Found a positive correlation between time spent watching Jersey Shore and permssive attitudes towards casual sex * Effect still found to be true when researchers controlled for the influence of factors e.g. religious beliefs * Suggests media cultivates perception of reality and this affects gender behaviour

Answer 77

1. Passive recepients ## Footnote * May not be a casual relationship between gender roles and media * **Durkin** * Argues even very young children aren't passive and uncritical recepients of media messages * Norms within the child's family may be the bigger determinant on the child's gender attitudes and behaviour * If media representations confirm existenting gender norms held by the family then these are likely to be reinforced in the child's mind * If not such representations are likely to be rejected * Suggests media influences are secondary to other influences e.g. family

Answer 78

Characterised by a strong, persistent feelings of identification with the opposite gender and discomfort with one's own assigned sex. ## Footnote People with gender dysphoria desire to live as members of the opposite gender and often use mannerisms association with the opposite gender

Answer 79

* Suggests gender dysphoria has a basis in brain structure * The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST) * BST involved with emotional responses and male sexual behaviour in rats

Answer 80

* **Kruijiver et al** * Area is larger in men than women * Found to ne female-sized in transgender females * In a follow-up study6 transgender individuals showed an average BST neuron number in the female range * Suggests people with gender dysphoria have a BST the size of the sex they identify with * **Zhou et al** * Dimorphism of the BST (i.e. having 2 forms) fits with reports made by people wjo are transgender that they feel from early childhood that they were born of the wrong sex

Answer 81

* 157 twin pairs * 96 MZ and 61 DZ * For evidence of gender dysphoria * Found 62% of the variance could be accounted for by genetic factors * Strong heritable component to gender dysphoria

Answer 82

* Compared 32 MZ twins with 21 DZ twins * One of each pair was diaagnosed with gender dysphoria * Found that 9 (39%) of MZ were concordant for gender dysphoria compared to none for DZs * A role of genetic factors in development of gender dysphoria

Answer 83

* Perspective that argues gender does not reflect underlying biological differences between people * These concepts are invented by society * Gender confusion arises because society forces people to be either male or female and act accordingly * From this perspective gender dysphoria isn't a pathological condition but a social one

Answer 84

* Cites cases of individuals with a genetic condition (5-alpha-reductose deficiency) in Sambia of New Guinea * Cause some biological males to be categorised as girls at birth due to having a labia and clitoris * At puberty their gentials change due to increase of testosterone * Testes descended and clitoris enlarges into a penis * This genetic variation is common among Sambia and thus routinely accepted * Some are men, women, and kwolu-atmwol (females-then-males) * Since contact with west these are now judged as having a pathological form of gender dysphoria

Answer 85

* Emphasise social relationships within the family as the cause of gender dysphoria * Argue gender dysphoria in biological males is caused by experiencing extreme seperation anxiety before gender identity has been established * Boy fantasises of a symbiotic fusion with his mother to relieve the anxiety, danger of seperation is removed

Answer 86

Other brain differences ## Footnote * Other brain differences associated with gender dysphoria' * **Rametti et al** * Studied another sexually dimorphic aspect of the brain * That of white matter * Regional differences in proportion of white matter in male and female brains * Analysed male and female transgender brains before they began hormone treatment * Most cases, amount and distribution of matter corresponded more closely with gender they identified with * Eearly differences in brains of transgender individuals

Answer 87

Contradictory evidence ## Footnote * **Hulshoff Pol et al** * Studied changes in transgender individuals' brain using MRI scans taken during hormonal treatment * Scans showed size of BST changed significantly over that period * Kruijiver and Zhou et al BST was examined post-mortem and after hormone treatment during gender reassignment treatmment * Differences in BST may be due to hormone therapy rather than cause of gender dysphoria

Answer 88

Social constructionism ## Footnote * Not all cultures have 2 genders * Some cultures recognise more than 2 genders * This is a challenge to traditional notions of male and female * Fact that increasing numbers of people now describe themselves as non-binary suggests cultural understanding is now beginning to catch up with lived experienced of many * gender identity and dysphoria best seen as a social construction than a biological fact

Answer 89

Psychoanalytic theory ## Footnote * Ovesey and Person's explanation does not provide an adequate account of gender dysphoria in biological females * Theory only applies to transgender females * **Rekers** * Found gender dysphoria in those assigned male at birth is more likely to be associated with absence of father than fear of seperation from mother * Suggests psychoanalytic theory does not provide a comprehensive account of gender dysphoria

Gender (P3) Flashcards

(117 cards)