Sex and Gender

Question 1

social and cultural domain assumption

Answer 1

personality impacts/impacted by cultural and societal contexts

Question 2

social and cultural domain: cultural differences between groups example

Answer 2

in social acceptability of aggression

Question 3

social and cultural domain: individual differences within cultures

Answer 3

• how personality plays out in the social sphere
• including sex and gender differences in personality processes, traits, and mechanisms

Question 4

sex

Answer 4

whether an individual = biologically considered male, female, intersex

Question 5

gender

Answer 5

• social and cultural interpretation of what it means to be a man or woman, changes over time

Question 6

sexual orientation

Answer 6

• refers to one’s sexual/romantic attraction

Question 7

sex differences

Answer 7

• average differences on certain characteristics
• e.g. height, body fat distribution, hormone levels, etc.
• no prejudgement about the cause of any differences

Question 8

What was going on in the 1930s?

Answer 8

researchers assumed sex differences on various personality items were attributable to
- differences along the single dimension of masculinity and femininity
- BUT perhaps someone could score high on both masculinity and feminity
- this led to concept of androginy

Question 9

What was going in the 1970s?

Answer 9

• rise of feminist movement
• assumption of single dimension challenged
• argued that masculinity and feminity might be independent
• one can be higher on M and F, or low on M and F, high in one, low in other

Question 10

refer to notebook for table of masculinity, feminity and androgyny

Question 11

Spence measures

Answer 11

• measure doesn’t assess sex roles
• measure and assess personality traits of instrumentality and expressiveness

Question 12

Bem measures

Answer 12

• measure assess gender schemas and cognitive orientations that lead people to process social info on basis of sex-linked associations
• gender-aschematic: to not use gender at all in processing of social info

Question 13

What are the similarities between Bem and Spence measures

Answer 13

• both have the goal of assessing gender and are self-report measures
• both measures contribute to understanding how people perceive and express their gender

Question 14

What are the different theories that drive the Spence measure and the Bem measure

Answer 14

Bem:
- Theory: Based on Sandra Bem’s gender schema theory.
- Concept: Recognizes that individuals can have both masculine and feminine traits.
- Purpose: Measures traits associated with traditional masculinity, traditional femininity, and a mix of both (androgyny).
Spence:
- Theory: Rooted in Janet Spence’s gender identity theory.
- Concept: Views gender identity as multidimensional with instrumental (masculine) and expressive (feminine) dimensions.
- Purpose: Measures how individuals express traits traditionally linked to masculinity and femininity.

Question 15

minimalists

Answer 15

sex differences as small and inconsequential

Question 16

maximalists

Answer 16

• size of sex differences should not be trivialized
• small effects can have more important consequences

Question 17

sex differences in personality: temperament in children

Answer 17

inhibitory control
- largest sex difference favouring girls
perceptual sensitivity
- moderate sex differences favouring girls
surgency
- moderate sex differences favouring boys
negative affectivity
- no sex difference, contrary to stereotypes

Question 18

sex differences in personality: extraversion

Answer 18

• women score slightly higher on gregariousness
• men score slightly higher on activity level
• men score moderately higher on assertiveness

Question 19

sex differences in personality: agreeableness

Answer 19

• women score higher on trusting, tender minded
• women smile more than men

Question 20

sex differences in personality: aggresiveness

Answer 20

• men are more physically aggressive in fantasies and manifest B
• profound consequences for everyday life
• men = 90% of all homicides
• more likely to commit violent crimes
• sex differences in violent crimes accompanies puberty, peaking in adolescence - early 20s

Question 21

sex differences in personality: conscientiousness

Answer 21

• women score slightly higher

Question 22

sex differences in personality: emotional stability

Answer 22

• men and women = similar on impulsiveness
• women score higher on anxiety

Question 23

sex differences in personality: openness to experience

Answer 23

no sex differences

Question 24

sex differences in depression

Answer 24

• in childhood, no sex difference
• after puberty, women depression 2-3x more than men
• rumination

Question 25

sex differences in depression: rumination

Answer 25

- repeatedly focusing on one's symptoms or distress - women ruminate more, which contributes to the perseverance of depressive symptoms - largest sex differences is in ages 18-44, then sexes start to converge again

Question 26

sex differences and self esteem

Answer 26

- global self-esteem: overall evaluation of self - in chidren, gap widens - adults, gap closes

Question 27

sex differences and sexuality

Answer 27

- interest in casual sex - nb of lifetime sex partners desired

Question 28

sex differences and people

Answer 28

- vocational: interest, preference to work with things/people - men are more towards things (systemizing) - women are more towards people (empathizing)

Question 29

gender identity

Answer 29

person's deeply felt, inherent sense of being a man, a woman, both or neither, fluid

Question 30

gender expression

Answer 30

how you present to the world

Question 31

gender stereotype

Answer 31

- beliefs about how men and owmen differ or are supposed to differ in contrast to what the actual differences are - components: 1. cognitive 2. affective 3. behavioural

Question 32

gender stereotypes and prejudice

Answer 32

negative consequences can damage people in health, jobs, odds of advancement and social reputations

Question 33

transgender

Answer 33

person's gender identity differs from the sex or gender assigned to them at birth

Question 34

socialization theory

Answer 34

roles reinforced by parents, teachers, and media for being M or F

Question 35

Bandura's social learning theory

Answer 35

- observation - imitation - modelling

Question 36

social role theory

Answer 36

- sex differences arise because men and women are distributed differently into different occupational and family roles - some research supports social role theory - physical differences -> different roles assigned -> psychological differences evolve because of assigned roles

Question 37

gender schema theory

Answer 37

- once children know their own gender label, their roles adjust their B to align with the gender norms of their culture from the earliest stages of social dev - refer to diagram in notebook

Question 38

hormonal theory

Answer 38

- sex differences in testosterone = linked with traditional sex differences in B - aggresison, dominance, career choice and sexual desire - problem: research suggests link between hormones and B = bidirectional

Question 39

evolutionary psychology theory

Answer 39

- sexes are predicted to differ only in those domains in which people are recurrently faced with different adaptive problems - problems must be solved to survive and reproduce - research supports many predicted sex differences, especially in sexuality - problem: no clear accounting of individuals and within-sex differences

Question 40

integrated theoretical perspectives

Answer 40

- would include all levels of analysis into account because they are compatible - socialization/hormonal/evolutionary