Module 35 32 02 03 2012 Module 32 Gender and Sex Gender the perception of being male or female Sex sexual anatomy or behavior Gender roles Society s expectations for women and men Gender roles set of expectations defined by a particular society that indicates what is appropriate behavior for men and women Stereotyping judgments about individual members of a group on the basis of their membership in that group Sexism negative attitudes and behavior towards a person based on that person s gender Men are stereotyped as competent independent objective and competitive women are stereotyped as sensitive sentimental submissive warm and expressive western societies and many other cultures favor men held in higher status stereotypes lead to people feeling pressured to become like their stereotype limits behavior and causes preferential treatment of men Sexism on the Job Differences exist on jobs deemed appropriate for genders Women are viewed as being suited for pink collar jobs nurse Reported doing better in a field viewed as appropriate for their secretary cashier gender worse for minorities Women on average earn less than men 0 8 for every 1 men earn Attitudes are shifting although even when they are successful and are promoted they are considered less competent after becoming a mother Hit a glass ceiling invisible barrier within an organization that may prevent women from being promoted beyond a certain level because of gender discrimination Sexual harassment unwanted sexual attention o 1 5 of women say that they have been sexually harassed at work Gender Differences More similar than dissimilar Personality factors o 30 from a college o 81 in middle high school o more to do with power o benevolent sexism stereotyped and restrictive attitudes that appear on the surface to be beneficial to women o consequences shame and embarrassment o Men are more aggressive women tend to be guilty about their aggression o Men have higher self esteem influenced by self distinguishing techniques while women are influenced by their perception of interdependence and connection with others o Women evaluate themselves more harshly o Women s speech is more precise speech patterns lead others to view them as tentative and less assertive also raise their pitch at the end of a sentence and add tags at the end of an opinion o Women retain more eye contact while listening o Women are better at decoding facial expressions Cognitive abilities o No differences exist in cognitive abilities though the way that we use the brain might differ Sources of Gender Differences Where Biology and Society Meet Biological and Evolutionary Factors o exposure to particular hormones prior to brith may affect brain development making children favor toys with certain kinds of skills o women perform better on task involving verbal skill and muscular coordination when on their period and better on spatial relationships when not o evolutionary forces could have also led to differences in behavior i e men are more jealous of sexual infidelity women are more jealous of emotional infidelity men want to propagate their children women want a partner to raise their children o biosocial one important source of gender differences is the difference in physical capbilities division of labor across cultures is based upon size Social Environment sex o Parents interact with their children differently depending on o Socialization the process by which an individual learns the rules and norms of appropriate behavior learning what ociety considers appropriate behavior for men and women o Society provides messages portraying stereotypical roles o Gender schema mental framework that organizes and guides a child s understanding of information relevant to gender Module 35 Nature and Nurture The Enduring Developmental Issue Developmental psychology the branch of psychology that studies the patterns of growth and change that occur throughout life Environmental causes of behavior influence from which a person is exposed to behavior Hereditary causes based upon the individual s genetic makeup Nature nurture issue the issue to the degree which environment and heredity influence behavior Maturation the unfolding of biologically predetermined patterns of Concur that genetic factors provide the potential for specific traits or behaviors to emerge but environment play a critical role in enabling them to attain this potential Interactionist position combination of heredity and environmental factors influences development Determining the relative influence of nature and nurture o Separating animals with similar genetic traits to see how they react in different environments though have to be careful with generalization o Analyze separated at birth twins o Analyze non genetic twins at same location Developmental research techniques o Cross sectional research a research method that compares people of different ages at the same point of time problem is that it could represent a variation in environmental factors o Longitudinal study research method that investigates behavior as participants age problem is that it takes a long time and they may just become better at taking the test because they ve taken it so often o Sequential research a research method that combines cross sectional and longitudinal research by considering a number of different age groups and examining them at several points in time 02 03 2012 02 03 2012
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