Discuss: Why do you think psychologists study gender? Sex and Gender Sex-role stereotypes. Androgyny and the BEM sex role inventory Discuss: Why do you think psychologists study gender?

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Exam Practice – sex & gender Using an example explain the term sex role stereotypes (3 marks) Distinguish between sex and gender (3 marks) Describe one study that has investigated sex role stereotypes (4 marks) David was playing football in the garden when his sister Judith began to join in ‘When I grow up I want to be a footballer’, said Judith. ‘Don’t be silly’, David replied, ‘girls can’t play football’. Define the term sex-role stereotype. Refer to David and Judith’s conversation in your answer (4 marks)

Answers to Exam Questions 1. Using an example explain the term sex role stereotypes (3 marks) Sex role stereotypes are a set of shared expectations that people within a society hold about what is usual and desirable behaviour for males and females (1 mark). For example, in our society, females are expected to be passive, emotional and nurturing, whereas men are expected to be assertive aggressive and tough (1 mark). These stereotypes, once in place, are then reinforced by parents, peers, the media as well as other institutions (1 mark)

Answers to Exam Questions 2. Distinguish between sex and gender (3 marks) Sex refers to the person’s biological status as either being male of female (1 mark). Whereas gender refers to the individual’s sense of being male or female and the possession of behavioural and personality characteristics that are assigned to a particular gender (1 mark). So whereas sex is wholly biologically determined, there is most likely a social/environmental element to gender (1mark)

Answers to Exam Questions 3. Describe one study that has investigated sex role stereotypes (4 marks) Seavey et al (1975) told a third of their adult participants that a baby dressed in a yellow jump suit was a girl, a third that it was a boy and a third were not told anything about the gender (1 mark). They were left to play with the baby in a room containing a stereotypical male toy (a ball), a stereotypical female toy (a doll) and a neutral toy (a plastic ring) (1 mark). Both male and female participants gave the baby the doll to play with if they thought it was girl, but were more likely to give it the gender neutral toy if they thought was a boy (1 mark)

Answers to Exam Questions 4. David was playing football in the garden when his sister Judith began to join in ‘When I grow up I want to be a footballer’, said Judith. ‘Don’t be silly’, David replied, ‘girls can’t play football’. Define the term sex-role stereotype. Refer to David and Judith’s conversation in your answer (4 marks) Sex role stereotypes are a set of shared expectations that people within a society hold about what is usual and desirable behaviour for males and females (1 mark). For example, in our society, females are expected to be passive, emotional and nurturing, whereas men are expected to be assertive aggressive and tough (1 mark). In the example, David is displaying sex role stereotypes by suggesting that Judith would not be able to play football because she is a girl (1 mark). This is because, in our society, football is regarded as a typical male behaviour, and therefore an unsuitable activity for a girl (1 mark)

Sex-role stereotypes Clips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VqsbvG40Ww https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srnaXW9ZgZc As a group, list as many sex-role stereotypes you can

Evaluation of sex-role stereotyping research Use the evaluation elaboration ladder to see how far you can extend the evaluations – remember, the more elaborated your evaluations, the more ‘effective’ it will be

Androgyny & The Bem Sex Role Inventory There are 60 cards with a different characteristic on each. They are all items on the BSRI. You job is to sort the cards into three columns according to whether you think the characteristic on the card is a traditionally stereotypical female trait, male trait, or neutral (not stereotypical male or female trait)

Did you sort them all correctly? If not…..what issues does this raise for the BRSI??

Exam Practice Using an example, define the term androgyny (3 marks) Using what you know about the problems of using questionnaires in psychological research, explain two weaknesses of using the BSRI to measure androgyny (6 marks)

Exam Practice Answers Using an example, define the term androgyny (3 marks) Androgyny is defined as a personality type that consists of a mixture of traditional masculine and feminine traits, attitudes and behaviours (1 mark). For example, being competitive and aggressive is associated with being masculine, whereas loving children and being sensitive to other people’s needs is associated with being feminine (1 mark). Therefore, someone who scores highly on BSRI in all of those traits would be considered high in androgyny (1 mark)

Exam Practice 2. Using what you know about the problems of using questionnaires in psychological research, explain two weaknesses of using the BSRI to measure androgyny (6 marks) There is a tendency for respondents of questionnaires to display social desirability bias (1 mark). This means that they may not answer truthfully if it is likely their answers may put them in a bad light (1 mark), for example a female may not feel comfortable giving herself a high rating on aggression as it is not socially acceptable for women to be aggressive in our society (1 mark). Also, there is a chance that the participants may be displaying demand characteristics (1 mark). This would result from them guessing the aims of the study (1 mark) and scoring themselves more highly on the gender appropriate traits (1 mark)

Evaluation – In pairs Put the tables together so there are just two big tables. You will have 3mins to construct an evaluation on the point you have been given. After this time, you will pass your paper to the next pair on your table and they will add to it or amend it. The papers will go round every pair so you all have an opportunity to write about each evaluation point.