Unit 1: Gender Development

The aims of this part of the unit are: To demonstrate how key approaches can be applied to the development of gender. To demonstrate how psychology provides an understanding of human development. To develop an appreciation of how science works in relation to the investigation of gender development.

By the end of the unit you should be able to: explain concepts related to the development of gender; understand and appreciate the biological, social learning, cognitive and psychodynamic explanations of gender development.

Getting you thinking Using your whiteboards write down the answers to these questions: What does it mean to be a boy? What does it mean to be a girl? What makes us different? How are we alike?

Sex and Gender SEX refers to biological status as either male or female as defined by our chromosomes, hormones and anatomical differences. GENDER is a psychosocial term and refers to expectations about roles, behaviours and attitudes of males and females in a given society. It is a SOCIAL CONSTRUCT – invented by society, so different depending on which society you belong to.

Look at each picture and write down whether the person is male/female and then decide whether they are masculine or feminine in appearance.

Masculinity and Femininity How masculine or feminine are you? On the board mark on the line how masculine or feminine you perceive yourself to be. What does it mean to be masculine/feminine? Write a description of someone who is masculine or feminine. Now look at the worksheet and rate the pictures in terms of their masculinity and femininity.

Measuring M/F ANDROGYNY – literally means MANWOMAN (andro = man GYNY= woman) The term ANDROGYNOUS refers to people whose characteristics are a balanced mixture of feminine and masculine traits. The BEM SEX ROLE INVENTORY (BSRI) was developed to measure androgyny.

Dr Sandra Lipsitz Bem invented the rex role inventory. She introduced the idea of psychological androgyny for individuals who combined both masculine and feminine psychological traits. Note: this is not the same as physical androgyny or intersex!

She felt that it was best to be androgynous, as one could be more adaptable to the demands of modern life.

For Bem, psychological androgyny means taking on whichever quality best fitted the situation – whether it was masculine or feminine. It is more adaptive than stereotyped gender identities.

Scoring the BSRI Masculinity score high androgynous masculine Femininity score high LOW feminine undifferentiated LOW

Review last lesson What is meant by the following key terms: Gender Sex Androgyny What characteristics does Bem say are the healthiest to have: A) mostly masculine characteristics B) mostly feminine characteristics C) a mixture of both? Why?

EVALUATION Bem’s scale has good TEST-RETEST reliability. This means that it produces similar results if used on more than one occasion with the same people. Bem suggested that people with higher androgyny scores are psychologically healthier than those who score high for male or female traits. BUT not all psychologists agree, others believe high masculine scores are more important. Reducing the concepts of masculinity and femininity to a single score may be an oversimplification The inventory is based on what American students assessed as desirable traits for men and women. This makes it ETHNOCENTRIC – focused on only one culture and means it lacks VALIDITY – does not measure masculinity and femininity in all societies and at all times.