Chapter 12 Gender Roles and Sexuality

Male and Female Genetic: XX=female; XY=male Gender roles: behaviors Communality vs. Agency Gender role norms: expectations Gender-role stereotypes: Overgeneralizations, inaccuracies Gender typing: acquiring the role

Gender Differences Verbal: Females slightly higher Spatial: Males higher Math: Males highest and lowest Aggression and riskiness: males Compliant, tactful, cooperative: females Nurturant, empathic, anxious: females Vulnerability: males

Figure 12. 1 A spatial ability task Figure 12.1 A spatial ability task. Are the two figures in each pair alike or different? The task assesses the ability to mentally rotate visual information and is a task on which average differences between males and females are quite large. Figure 12.1

Social-role Hypothesis (Eagly) Roles create stereotypes Context and culture important Changes occurring today Psychological differences Few and small Important Differential roles continue

Infancy Differential treatment Differential expectations By 18 mo: categorical self By 21/2 yr: gender identity 18-24 mo: gender toy preference

Childhood 3 yrs: gender stereotypes acquired Gender rigidity until age 6 Gender constancy: by ages 4-6 Gender typed behavior by age 2 1/2 Greater by age 6 Stronger rules for boys

Adolescence Gender intensification Pubertal hormonal changes Preparation for reproductive activities Gender and peer conformity Later adolescence more flexible thinking

Biosocial Theory Money and Ehrhardt Biological development Presence of Y chromosome Testosterone masculinizes brain and nervous system Social influences and labeling at birth Gender behavior through social interaction

Figure 12.3 Critical events in Money and Ehrhardt’s biosocial theory of gender typing

Psychoanalytic Theory Oedipus (boy) and Electra (girl) Complex Research supports Identification with same-sex parent Preschool years important Importance of father for both Stronger male reaction

Social Learning Theory Differential reinforcement Observational learning Fathers differentiate most Internalization of parent views Peers, media, books, etc

Cognitive Theories Kohlberg: self socialization Stage-like changes Gender identity: ages 2-3 Label themselves correctly Gender stability: ages 3-4 Stable over time Gender consistency: ages 5-7 Stable across situations

Gender Schema Theory Information processing Gender schemata by ages 2-3 In-group/out-group schema Own-sex schema Child looks for confirming information in the environment

Adulthood Gender roles over the life-span At marriage: greater differentiation Birth of child: it increases more Parental imperative Middle age and older: Androgyny Shift - does not mean switch

Figure 12.5 Categories of gender-role orientation based on viewing masculinity and femininity as separate dimensions of personality. Figure 12.5

Sexuality Over the Life Span Infant sexuality: CNS arousal Childhood Learn about reproduction Curiosity and exploration Sexual abuse: like PTSD Adolescence: sexual identity, orientation Double standard: decline?

Table 12.3 If one twin is gay (or lesbian), in what percentage of twin pairs does the other twin also have a homosexual or bisexual orientation? Higher rates of concordance (similarity) for identical twin pairs than for fraternal twin pairs provide evidence of genetic influence on homosexuality. Less-than-perfect concordance points to the operation of environmental influences as well.

Adult Sexuality Most are married Gradual declines Individual differences Married have more sex Males sexual peak: age 18 Female sexual peak: age 38

Older Adults Stereotype: Asexuality Reality: decline Diseases and disabilities Social attitudes Lack of a partner Physiologically able in old age