1. Sex Differences and Gender-Role Development
Chapter 13

2. Definitions Sex = biological identity
Gender = social and cultural identity as male/female
Gender-role standard = a behavior, value, or motive that society deems more appropriate for males/females

3. SOME FACTS AND FICTIONS ABOUT SEX DIFFERENCES
Actual Psychological Differences Between the Sexes
Verbal Ability – girls are superior
Visual/Spatial Abilities – boys are superior
Evident by 4, persists across life span
Mathematical Abilities
In adolescence, boys better at arithmetic reasoning
Girls better at computational skills

4. SOME FACTS AND FICTIONS ABOUT SEX DIFFERENCES
Aggression
Boys  physically and verbally
Girls  covert

5. SOME FACTS AND FICTIONS ABOUT SEX DIFFERENCES
Other Sex Differences
Activity level – boys are more physically active (even before birth)
Fear, timidity, and risk-taking – girls are more fearful, timid, and take fewer risks
No difference in cognitive impulsivity
Developmental vulnerability – boys are more vulnerable to prenatal and perinatal hazards and disease

6. SOME FACTS AND FICTIONS ABOUT SEX DIFFERENCES
Conclusions
Differences reflect group averages
Differences are small
Differences are most apparent at the extremes
Males and females are much more psychologically similar than they are different

7. SOME FACTS AND FICTIONS ABOUT SEX DIFFERENCES
Emotional expressivity / sensitivity
Beginning in toddlerhood
Boys  anger
Girls  other emotions
Compliance – girls are more compliant

8. Gender Differences in Social Behavior
Gender segregation
Play styles
Social Influence Styles
Charlesworth
4 children, playing with movie viewer designed so only one child could watch at a time

9. Gender Differences in Social Behavior
Forms of Verbal Influence
Social Interaction
Jacklin & Maccoby
Pairs of neutrally dressed, unacquainted 33 m/o brought to playroom
Group Structure

10. THEORIES OF GENDER-TYPING AND GENDER ROLE DEVELOPMENT
Evolutionary Theory
Males and females face different evolutionary pressures

11. THEORIES OF GENDER-TYPING AND GENDER ROLE DEVELOPMENT
Criticisms of the Evolutionary Approach
Applies to differences that apply cross-culturally
Ignores differences limited to cultures or historical periods
Social roles hypothesis
Cultures assign roles based on gender
Socialization practices

13. THEORIES OF GENDER-TYPING AND GENDER ROLE DEVELOPMENT
Evidence for Social-Labeling Influences
Cultural influences
Mead’s study of tribal societies
Arapesh – both males and females were taught to be expressive
Mundugumor – both genders were taught to be “masculine”
Tchambuli – from Western standards, males more feminine, females more masculine

14. THEORIES OF GENDER-TYPING AND GENDER ROLE DEVELOPMENT
Evidence for Social-Labeling Influences
Condry & Condry
Saw film of 9 m/o presented with jack-in-the-box
Half told male, half told female
“boy” was described as angry
“girl” was described as afraid

15. THEORIES OF GENDER-TYPING AND GENDER ROLE DEVELOPMENT
A psychobiosocial viewpoint
Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory
Social Learning Theory
Direct tuition/reinforcement
Observational learning

16. THEORIES OF GENDER-TYPING AND GENDER ROLE DEVELOPMENT
Kohlberg’s Cognitive-Developmental Theory
Basic gender identity
Gender stability
Gender consistency
Gender Schema Theory (Martin & Halverson)

18. THEORIES OF GENDER-TYPING AND GENDER ROLE DEVELOPMENT
Martin & Halverson
Show 5-6 y/o pictures:
Boy engaging in traditional masculine activity
Girl engaging in traditional masculine activity
Boy engaging in traditional feminine activity
Girl engaging in traditional feminine activity
One week later, show pictures…

19. THEORIES OF GENDER-TYPING AND GENDER ROLE DEVELOPMENT
Martin
4-10 y/o told story
Character in story was either a boy or girl
Description was neutral, stereotyped, or counterstereotyped

20. THEORIES OF GENDER-TYPING AND GENDER ROLE DEVELOPMENT
An Integrative Theory
Biological theories account for major biological developments
Social-theories account for differential reinforcement processes
Cognitive development explains the growth of categorization skills
Gender schemas are also important as are models as children age

21. Androgyny – Bem
Historically, masculinity and femininity were at opposite ends of a single dimension
Androgyny – sees them as 2 separate dimensions, allowing individuals to be high in both masculine and feminine traits

23. Scoring for BEM
Use the scoring guide to tally up scores for a and b answers
A answers: tally scores, divide by 20 (as long as you didn’t omit any “a” answers), place number in the box at the bottom of your sheet labeled R.S. and a.
B answers: tally scores, divide by 20 (as long as you didn’t omit any “b” answers), place number in box labeled R.S. and b.

24. Do Androgynous People Really Exist?
In a college student sample
33% were masculine men or feminine women
30% were androgynous
37% undifferentiated or gender-type reversed

25. Are There Advantages to Being Androgynous?
More highly adaptable to the situation
Higher self-esteem
More likeable
Perceived as better adjusted
The masculine traits are more important for adjustment
Advantages may differ across lifespan