PSYC 300 1st Edition Lecture 16 Outline of Last Lecture I. Gender AwarenessII. Gender variant vs. Sexual OrientationIII. MenstruationIV. Menstruation PainV. Cultural Attitudes Toward MenstruationVI. Cultural MessagesOutline of Current Lecture I. Gender AwarenessII. Gender ComparisonsIII. Let’s say:IV. Gender ComparisonsV. Social FactorsVI. Hypothetical ExampleVII. Gender-Related Social Behaviors and Personality TraitsVIII. Characteristics Related to Aggression and PowerIX. The Hormone ConnectionX. Characteristics Related to Aggression and PowerXI. Gender-Related Social Behaviors and Personality TraitsCurrent Lecture- Gender Awarenesso Hasbro presents the Bejeweled board game (very much advertised toward young females)o A clothing store in Sweden used curvier mannequins to advertise lingerie o Male birth control around the corner (it stops the sperm production very dramatically and there is no side effects)o Furniture for now-emphasizes how short relationships nowadays areo It doesn’t matter how you’re doing on your finals as long as your future husband is acing his o PMS comedy strip-7, 5, and 1 day before and after its doneo A girl holding a pink gun with the boys holding black and blue guns o Lowes: make it beautiful, “tear it down”-man and woman doing similar roles in redoing the houseo A clean beaver always find more wood-women keeping their vagina clean- Gender Comparisonso Aggressiono Helpingo Influenceabilityo Emotionalityo Verbal and nonverbal communicationo General intelligenceo Verbal abilityo Visual-spatial abilityo Mathematical abilityo Cautions about research Samples-may not reflect the general public as a whole Expectations/biases Relevance to real-life Similarities are often not published-love to find gender differences but similarities aren’t so exciting- Let’s say:o Research studies find that US women smile more often than men.o What does this mean? Every woman in the US smiles for than every man- OR The average woman smiles more often than the average man- Gender Comparisonso Essential differences perspective Genetic, hormonal, brain structureo Social constructionist perspective How does our culture (society) create gender and maintain it in our interpersonalrelationships and communication patterns?- Social roles: men are providers, women are nurturers- Social settings: particularly important for personality and social constructs- Status and power: people with power are given certain priviledges- Media messages- Social Factorso Gender differences are usually largest when other people are present. Smiling o Gender differences are generally largest when gender is prominent and other shared roles are minimized. Gender differences at a single bar vs. national conference for accountantso Gender differences are usually largest when the behavior requires specific gender-related skills. Helping change a tire vs. helping with a lost child- Hypothetical Exampleo Visual spatial ability test given to adult men and women Results: men score significantly higher than women- Brain imaging reveals men process information differentlyo Explanations Essential differences-men have more testosterone so they score higher due to this increase in testosterone Socialization-boys are more likely to play with Legos and play sports (ex. Basketball) in which you need to have good spatial skills- Gender-Related Social Behaviors and Personality Traitso Aggression: behavior that is intended to hurt someone, either physically or verbally Aggression seems to be influenced by both biology and environment Physical: boys demonstrate higher levels than girls across age, socioeconomic group, and culture Relational: girls demonstrate higher levels than boys, particularly high from age 10-12 - Characteristics Related to Aggression and Powero Gender and Aggression:  Men commit 73% of violent crimes- Violent crimes: high levels of testosterone - Y chromosome and ageo “We could avoid two-thirds of all crime simply by putting all able-bodied young men in cryogenic sleep from age 12 through 28.” David Lykken, The Antisocial Personality- Genetic manipulations: animals are bred for aggressiveness - The Hormone Connectiono Aggression research Prenatal exposure to testosterone: inconclusive o Circulating levels R=.28 (but more stronger for young men, r=.58)o Conclusion Relationship between aggression and testosterone is Causation is more Most likely hormones interact with- Characteristics Related to Aggression and Powero The Social Constructionist Perspective Modeling/Observing: TV, violent games, spanking Rewards/punishmentso Operational definition-how we define aggression impacts findings in gender differences Example: workplace bullying vs. violenceo Social context Same behavior is interpreted as more aggressive if perpetrated by a man towardsa womano Spontaneous aggression: large differences o One study: - Gender-Related Social Behaviors and Personality Traitso Prosocial behavior: voluntary behavior intended to benefit someone elseo Influenceabilityo Emotionalityo Moral