Discuss the formation and development of gender roles

Sex refers to the biological facts about us

(anatomy and functioning) Gender is what culture makes out of the raw material of biological sex Gender identity refers to how we classify ourselves and others Gender Roles refer to the behaviors, attitudes, values, beliefs, expectations society deems appropriate on the basis of biological sex

Gender constancy

age which children recognize that gender is set and therefore not controlled by other factors such as clothing or hairstyle

Definitions/Distinctions

Are male and female brains different?

Destruction

of small parts of rats hypothalami resulted in new-born males behaving as though they were female (Dorner, 1976)
Hemispheric

specialization when males perform spatial tasks, theres greater electrical activity in the right hemisphere (Bryden and Saxby, 1985) 2003 states that the female brain is hardwired for empathy (baby girls as young as 12 months respond more empathically to others distress, show more sad looks, and express comforting vocalizations
Baron-Cohen

Case Study: The Batista Family (Imperato-McGinley et al., 1974)

There are ten children in the Batista family. Four of the sons have changed from being born and growing up as girls into muscular men (they were born with normal female genitalia and body shape, but when they were 12, their vaginas healed over, two testicles descended, and they grew full-size penises). Change occurred because of the flood of testosterone which occurred at puberty to give the normal male appearance Key Note Their ability to adopt a male gender identity and gender role suggests that their testosterone had programmed masculinity into their brains. This study is indicative of the nature view of gender identity as being programmed before birth

Case Study: Biological determinants of gender identity

Hormones Testosterone (Theory of psychosexual differentiation)

y
y

Table 2. Recommendations for Gender Assignment: Factors to Consider

Most likely adult gender identity based on impression of fetal androgen exposure, parents expectations and expected impact of sexual differentiation Diagnosis, if specific diagnosis available and outcome data available Genital appearance (as primarily male, female or intermediate) Genital surgical options (potential for functional, sensitive genitalia) Potential for fertility (p odno ), considering assisted fertility techniques including intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI in vitro) and donor ova Social and cultural pressures Family dynamics and social circumstances including parents desires, expectations, malleability, (podatno ) and reactions to genital ambiguity
(niejasno )

y y y y y y y

Depending on the degree of unpredictability of outcome, deference given to psychosocial factors when outcome is unpredictable

(respekt)

Prenatal exposure to testosterone establishes a male brain circuitry and inhibits the development of female brain circuits.(Rat study)

LOOK AT THE TOP RECOMMENDATION

Dr. John Money interaction  We are treated through gender stereotypes according to our genetically assigned sexual physiology.  Children are gender neutral at birth and gender identity is the result of socialization.  Worked with intersex children and believed that gender could be assigned.

Biosocial Theory of Gender Development (Money and Ehrhardt, Ehrhardt, 1972)

Read the case study on page 210. Answer the three questions in your notes in the Be a thinker box. Pay special attention to researcher bias and demand characteristics.

Case Study David Reimer (aka John, Joan, Brenda)

Baby X Experiments (Smith and Lloyd, 1978) One baby was dressed in neutral clothing and given either a boy name, a girl name, or a neutral name. When asked regarding gender, the researchers placed the baby into three categories: male, female, or ? Read Gender X writeup (http://scientopia.org/blo gs/scicurious/2011/03/09 /baby-boy-baby-girlbaby-x/) (PDF file)

How is gender assigned socially?

Sociobiological theory
y Gender has evolved over the course of human

development as part of our broader adaptation to the environment (Lumsden and Wilson, 1983). y Different roles have developed between males and females because physical traits facilitate each gender in their various roles (i.e. labor and reproduction)
MEN Physical strength Larger lung capacity Aggression Systemizing Women Child-bearing Milk-producing Verbal ability Naturally empathetic

Psychoanalytic Theory
KEY THOUGHT: Resolution of Oedipus complex occurs through identification with the same-sex parent, and results in the acquisition of gender identity. Men Age 3 love for mom, jealous of dad Father is bigger and stronger so boy becomes afraid of castration Boy wishes to avoid castration so he represses desire for mom/hate for dad Identifies with dad and begins to act, think and feel as if he were his father, thus exhibiting male sex role Oedipus complex Women Belief shes already been castrated and blames mother for no penis Substitutes wish for penis with wish for baby which causes her to love her dad Girl fears loss of mothers love if she mates with dad, so she internalizes Becomes good child that mom wants but doesnt have to give up love for father so this leads to weaker superego, weaker identity and more dependency Electra complex

Social Learning Theory

Inclusion of biosocial (Gender X) views Incorporates observational learning and reinforcement By observing others and then imitating that behavior, children receive reinforcement from significant others for sex-appropriate behavior (Bandura 1977) Reinforcement coincides with biosocial stereotypes of behavior to produce learned sex-typed behavior Parents not only reinforcers media, schools Critique children show a preference of modeling the behavior of those with whom they have most contact (Hetherington, 1967)

Placing this into the context of Piagets stages of cognitive development and biological theories of cognitive development, do the theories justify the theories?

SLT support
Fagot (1985) observational study. Found that boys (21-25 months) made fun of boys who played with dolls or with girls Sroufe et al. (1993) observed that kids (10-11 years) who did not behave in a gender-stereotyped way were the least popular. Gunter (1986) found that children categorized as heavy TV viewers hold stronger stereotyped beliefs than lighter viewers.

Findings not in support of SLT

Gunter and McAleer (1997) Children are not passive receptors of TV content. Children selectively respond to particular characters and events. Personal dispositions affect change in perception, memory, and understanding. Quiery (1998) Fathers adoption of either sex-typed or egalitarian attitudes have been found to correlate with four yrolds perceptions of sexroles

Cognitive-Developmental Theory (CDT)

y Kohlberg and Ullian (1974)  Child centered approach to gender discovery and gender-appropriate behavior. y Stages  Stage 1 (age 3) Gender labeling or basic gender identity (Ruble, 1984)

Recognition of self as being male or female (this allows us to categorize the world Children do not link boys with men or girls with women Gender is retained throughout life Children still demonstrate a reliance on superficial appearance in determining gender differences. Gender is immutable (cannot be changed through the changing of superficial characteristics. (Linked with conservation Piaget)

Stage 2 (age 4-5) Gender stability (Marcus and Overton, 1978)

Stage 3 (age 6-7) Gender constancy (Marcus and Overton, 1978)

Gender Schema Theory (GSPT)

y Bem (1985) and Martin (1991)  Gender identity alone can provide children with sufficient motivation to assume sex-typed behavior patterns
Compare with SLT Compare with Cognitive Dev. Theory

y Steps  Cog-Dev allows for schema to be formed  Observation (SLT) provides for children to develop selfconcept in response to external perceptions of others  Self-concept is mixed with cultural schemas for comparison  Self-esteem linked with measuring up to gender schema

Gender Schema Theory

New Boys and New Girl Toys Martin and Halvorson (1983)
y Boys and girls (age 5-6) y Presented pictures of males

and females in activities either in line with gender role schemas or inconsistent with gender role schemas y Children later tested on memory of images presented the week before y Distortions evident in memories of models exhibiting behaviors outside of gender schema

y Strength Child will seek out

Strengths and limitations of Gender Schema Theory of Gender Identity

stimuli that supports (fits) the schemas they have created for self and others. The world is then divided into masculine/feminine labels through which attention is given according to observations made through social learning, thus steering the child to more masculine/feminine behaviors dependent upon the childs selfperception.

Limitations of Gender Schema Theory of Gender Identity

Its not possible to explain how and why gender schemas develop/form (same criticism as schema theory) Too much focus on individual and not enough emphasis on social and cultural factors Key Questions To what extent would culture affect schema development and/or differences between cultures regarding schema-appropriate behavior? Is there a universal norm for masculine/feminine? If in fact we believe that schema development is responsible for gender identity, do we eliminate all biological precursors/predeterminants?

Differences between SLT and GST

Margaret Mead A changed woman

Arapesh, Mundugumor, and the Tchambuli tribes of New Guinea (1935)
Believed traits (masc/fem) were completely unrelated to biological sex Just as clothing, manner, and headdress arent determined by sex, so temperament and gender roles arent biologically determined either. Used the cultural differences among tribes of New Guinea as evidence of her views (What type of study is this?) Argued that human behavior is not determined by genes alone but that it is a product of beliefs and values within culture.

Samoa, Manus, Iatmul, and Bali (1949)

After 14 years of research (and having a baby), Mead came to the conclusion that women were naturally more nurturing than men (motherhood as a biological inclination). Fatherhood, according to Mead, was a social invention which is why there are distinct differences in male behavior between cultures.

Support There are no known societies in which the female does the fighting in warfare. Rebuttal Malinowski (1929)  Studied Trobriand Islanders  In order to support their tribes reputation for virility, groups of women would catch a man from another tribe, brutally rape him, and then boast about their achievement

Aggression Nurturing

Nurturing behavior was often excluded in the work of early researchers (confirmation bias) by not listing certain nurturing behaviors as such:  Provision of food  Providing safety

Cultural norms dictate what in fact is normal within society. Apply the evidence found within Native American, Alentian, and Madagascar tribes to the notion of gender role development.

Crane, J., & Hannibal, J. (2009). IB Diploma Programme Psychology Course Companion. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Gross, R. (2009). Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behaviour (5 ed.). Dubai: Hodder Arnold. *note creator recognizes that the pictures remain uncited and wishes to give credit to the many websites visited to acquire them.