Psychology of Women (Psyc/Wmst336)EXAM 1 Study GuideIntroduction and Gender Bias- What is the psychology of women- o Investigation of topics relevant to women’s lives- Overarching purpose of class- o Deepen critical thinking skills, evaluate research methods and conclusions, evaluate the social, cultural, political context, and to evaluate our own personal assumptions, values and biases- Brief history of psych of womeno Psychology of women emerged in the late 60’s/early 70s with civil rights and feminist movements- Current status of disciplineo Rapidly growing scholarship o Still a young discipline and we don’t know mucho Recognize the diversity of women’s experienceso Cautious to generalizing findings to all womeno Deals more with environment; nature/nurture- The research processo Emphasized gender differences and sexism can occur through different theories and posed questions- Sources of bias in psychological researcho Focus on gender differenceso Experimenter effects Occur when some characteristics of the experimenter effects the way the respondents behave and therefore change the results of the experimentero Observer effects Researchers expectations affect his/her observations and recording of the datao Biased interpretations Research can be interpreted in 2 opposite ways: one in which it is favorable to men and one in which it is favorable to women- Ex: when the men and women were asked to rate how well theythink they did on the exam, males rated higher guessesthis could mean women have low self-confidence OR men have too high of expectations Female deficit-model- A theory or interpretation of research in which females are lacking in some way and their behavior is deficito Ex: Why do women hold few management level positions? b/c women are afraid of success. What is the alternative explanation besides the female deficit interpretation Betty Draper Bias- Men and women are so different but we neglect diversity within culture and status of different populations of womeno What factors relate to the choice women make to participate either in the paid labor force or in full-time mothering? BUT need to consider that not all women areable to make this choice (e.g. poor, single mothers) Theoretical model- set of assumptions (may be biased) that a scientists begins with that effects the outcomes of research- Definitions according to Hyde textbooko Liberal feminism – women should have opportunities & rights equal to meno Cultural feminism- evaluate and value special qualities women have different from meno Feminist- someone who favors social, political, economic, and social equality of women and meno Sex- biological characteristicso Gender- socially constructed roles- Recurring themes rooted in historyo Male as normative approacho Androcentrism- male/penis-centeredo Wudgemaker study- children told fake job and had to guess he/she/themHistorical and Theoretical Perspectives: - Psychoanalytic Theory- assumption that part of the human psyche is unconsciouso Freud’s contributions Freudian theory- women are more innately jealous and emotional than men because they feel inferior Phallic stage- (3-6 yrs) stage in which the pleasure zone is the genitalso Oedipal complex- a boy’s sexual attraction toward and love for his mother and hatred toward and desire to do away with his fathero Electra complex- girls’ sexual attraction and desire for her dad and wants to kill mothero Feminine personality traits Passivity - desire to be impregnated (to be done to; not to do) Masochism - desire to experience pain (through “penetration” and through childbirth)o Immature superego - girls have a less mature sense of morality because she will always rely on her parents for her values (Electro complex was never resolved) Think penis is gone already, cant do anything Superego- part of the personality that contains the person’s ideals and conscienceo Criticisms of Psychoanalytic theory Concepts cannot be evaluated Ideas are from a non-diverse, small, clinical sample Overemphasized anatomy/biology and not enough environmental influences Freud’s views are androcentric (male-centered)o Karen Horney Originally agreed and supported Freudian theory but eventually realized that Freud’s views are androcentric and focus on male childishviews of females Said that men have envy of the female’s ability to reproduce (womb envy)o Nancy Chodorow Why do women mother? Women mothering creates different experiences for girls than for boys, resulting in girls who want to mother and boys who dominate and devalue women- Sociobiology- application of evolutionary theory to explaining the social behavior of animals, including peopleo E.O. Wilson (1975)o Socio-biological theory- women are biologically innate to want children anda man who will be there to protect and support Natural selection; survival of the fittesto Parental investment Behaviors or other investments in the offspring by the parent that increase the offspring’s chance of survival Parent with greater investment should care for young- Women go through pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, etc- Double standard- tolerance for male promiscuity and disapproval of female promiscuityo Dr. Block’s video Glass ceiling; pay gap; doesn’t have to do with sexismo Criticisms Ignores contributions of mind and culture Reliance on genetic determinism/biological programming provide convenient rationalization for approval of status quo/subordination of women (cannot be tested) Androcentric perspective - Social Learning Theory- gendered behavior is not innate; it is learned from other girls and women; women are rewarded for feminine and punished for masculine behavioro Principles of operant conditioning Reinforcement- something that occurs after a behavior and makes the behavior more likely to occur in the future Punishment Imitation- people doing what they see others doing (copying someonein that moment) Observational Learning- observing someone doing something then doing it at a later timeo Cognitive components Attention- process focuses on relevant behaviors Self-regulation- monitor own behavior and regulate Self-efficacy- belief in ability to accomplish a particular task- Cognitive-Development Theory- cognitive organization of children change systematically over timeo Kohlberg- moral reasoning 3 levels: pre-conventional, conventional,
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