Wednesday Class Cancelled Next Week Nov. 27 th : Helping (Chapter 10) Nov. 29 th : Aggression (Chapter 10-11) Dec. 4 th: Psychology & The Law (Chapter 11) Dec. 6 th: Attraction & Close Relationships (Chapter 9 & 12) Dec. 11 th Exam Review/Real-World Problems

From the Body to Gender Dr. Sanchez

Gender We are hardwired to notice sex –Single most remembered characteristic This may lead us to assume many sex differences. However, men and women are more alike than they are different Differences between men and women are smaller than inter-group differences

Bem’s Typology Sex (biological) v. Gender (social) In 1970s, Sandra Bem argued that people were not necessarily sex = gender Instead, masculine, feminine, a mix of both, or neither –Androgynous –Undifferentiated Psychologically gendered on a continuum

1970’s research Men and women fell into sex-typed quadrants She found relatively few androgynous people How did she measure it? Predetermined list of attributes known to be gender-stereotyped!

Bem Sex Role Inventory Confident Leadership Athletic Opinionated Decisive Risk Taking Aggressive Masculine Compassionate Likes Children Agreeable Cheerful Nurturing Modest Gullible Feminine

Contemporary Research Given no other choice, men and women sex typed themselves Better idea is to let people report the attributes they identify with. Then, men and women report the same, positive traits More positive than gender-typed

Gender similarities/difference What gender differences are real? What is real? –Product of gender-role socialization? –Product of hormones/genetic-make-up? –Product of biased research designs? Researchers underestimate the social context in creating gender differences.

Personality Trends ( ) Assertiveness (Twenge, 2001) –Sociocultural –Meta-Analysis Social Status –Education/Work Opportunities

Women’s Assertiveness (Twenge, 2001)

Degrees Awarded to Women

Median Age of Marriage

World War II

Social Role Theory (Eagly, 1987) Origin of sex differences Differences evolve from societal roles Divisions of labor create gender-role expectations Socialization Reinforcements –Rehearsing, Anticipating and Preparing for such roles

Personality Trends Shift suggests that women are becoming more instrumental Shifts in assertiveness mirror historical climate

Stereotype Threat The fear of confirming a negative stereotype (Steele & Aronson, 1995) –Viewing stereotypical ads –Making gender salient –Diagnostic test of their ability Increased anxiety Psychological disengagement Working memory = –Attentional resources in a particular moment on one task while suppressing non-relevant information

Schmader & Johns (2003)

Moderator Definition: A variable that interacts with another variable to change its effect High levels of gender identification increase ST for women

Successful Interventions Teaching about stereotype threat (Johns, Schmader, & Martens, 2005)

Mathematical Performance Small difference favoring males (Hyde & Linn, 1988) Mathematical expectations Likelihood to take advanced math courses SAT-Math Scores

VERBAL PERFORMANCE Small gender differences favoring women (Hyde, 1981) Verbal disabilities Verbal vocabulary in childhood Analogies SAT-V

Consequences of GRE/SAT Gap Women receive better grades than men in college Receive lower GRE/SAT scores Female underprediction effect

How big are gender differences?.80 = LARGE DIFFERENCE.50 = MODERATE DIFFERENCE.20 = SMALL DIFFERENCE

ON SIMILARITIES (Hyde, 2005)

Gender Norm Violations Backlash = punishments and/or negative judgments for gender-role inconsistent behavior –Disapproval, Rejection, Dislike –Losing Status What are the consequences fear of backlash?

Backlash as Identity Misclassification Fear of Identity Misclassification –Being perceived as a social identity that you are not Men’s fear of being perceived as “gay” Feminine = indicator of sexual orientation

Study All heterosexual men Engaged in feminine/masculine task Confirm heterosexuality v. No confirmation Public v. Private

Bosson et al. (2005)

Fear of Backlash for Women Harsh sanctions for gender role violators Competence v. Likable –Women who self-promote are seen as more competence but less hireable and less socially attractive –Men who self-promote are seen as more hireable and competence (no trade-off) –Men not seen as socially less attractive (no- trade-off)

Backlash Creates a vicious cycle of gender stereotyping Double bind