Gender Psychology

A set of shared expectations within a social group about what men and women should do and think. These stereotypes are somehow transmitted and communicated through society and may be reinforced by parents, peers and the media.

Smith and Lloyd (1978) showed that mothers do treat boy and girl babies differently. A sample of 32 mothers was videotaped playing for 10 minutes with a baby with toys such as a squeaky hammer or a doll. When the mother thought she was playing with a boy she encouraged more motor activity and offered gender appropriate toys. The research offers strong evidence that parents employ sex role stereotypes.

Ingalhalikar (2014) scanned the brains of 949 young men and women. Using MRI imaging, they mapped connections between left and right sides of the brain and women had better connections between left and right hemisphere while men's brain show more intense activity. This supports the stereotype women are better at multitasking.

A person displays a balance of masculine and feminine characteristics in their personality. Bem developed a way to measure androgyny called the Bem Sex Role Inventory. To develop the scale, 200 personality characteristics were given to 100 judges and they were asked to rate them on how desirable each was for a male or female. There were 20 traits for male, female and neutral. Respondents have to rate themselves on a scale of 1-7.

The measurement of androgyny is valid as it was piloted with over 1000 students however they were all American and it was done in the 1970's so may not reflect today's society.

Good test-retest reliability.

Can be seen as an oversimplification.

We each have 23 pairs of chromosomes but the last pair determine our sex in typical gender development. The chromosomal structure for females is ** and for males it is XY. The Y chromosome carries a gene called the 'sex determining region' SRY. The SRY gene causes testes to develop and these produce androgens.

Most gender development is influenced by hormones. Testosterone is a male hormone which controls the development of sex organs and primary and secondary sexual characteristics. Much research has focused on testosterone causing aggression. Oestrogen is a female hormone that determines female sexual characteristics and menstruation. Oestrogen causes some women to experience heightened emotions. Oxytocin is generally produced in larger amounts in women rather than men and it reduces the stress hormone cortisol and is sometimes referred to as the 'love hormone'. It is produced during labour and after childbirth.

There is evidence to support the role of hormones and chromosomes in gender development in the case of David Reimer. Twin boys Bruce and Brian underwent a circumcision at 6 months old but Bruce's surgery went wrong leaving him without a penis. His parents raised him as a girl. He never adjusted to life as a female and suffered psychological problems. When he learned the truth he went back to living as a man but killed himself in 2004.

Klinefelter's syndrome affects between 1 in 500 and 1 in 1000 people. Individuals who have this condition are biological males with the anatomical appearance of a male but have an additional X chromosome. One of the effects of the additional X chromosome is reduced body hair, breast development, long limbs, underdeveloped genitalia. Klinefelter's syndrome is linked to poorly developed language skills and reading ability.

Turner's syndrome affects 1 in 5000 biological females and is caused by an absence of one or two alloted X chromosomes. Individuals with Turner's do not have a menstrual cycle, their ovaries fail to develop and they are sterile. They do not develop breasts and may have a webbed neck. Higher than average reading ability.

Studies of people with atypical sex chromosome patterns are useful as they contribute to our understanding of nature-nurture. By comparing people who have these conditions with chromosome-typical individuals it becomes possible to see psychological and behavioural differences between the two groups.

A mismatch between their biological sex and the sex they feel they are. Biological explanations for dysphoria- Dysphoria is physiologically determined. Brain sex theory suggests that dysphoria is caused by specific brain structures that are incompatible with a person's biological sex. Particular attention has been paid to those areas of the brain that are dimorphic (take a different form in males and females).

Zhou (1995) studied th bed nucleus of the stria terminalis which is assumed to be fully developed at age 5 and is around 40% larger in females.

Biological explanations are often criticised for their tendency to reduce complex conditions and behaviours to a simpler genetic, neuroanatomical or hormonal level. The danger here is that other factors occuring at a higher level may be ignored. An interactionist combination of several different levels of explanation may be especially relevant in the case of GID.

Post mortem studies search for confirmation of structured differences. In post-mortems of six male-to-female transgender individuals who had received feminising hormones, the BSTc was found to be a  similar size as heterosexual women.

This is supported by Kruijiver et al (2000) who focused on the number of neurons in the BSTc rather than the volume. The six transgender individuals showed a similar number of neurons in the BSTc to those found in heterosexual women. They concluded that the BSTc provides evidence for a neurobiological basis of gender dysphoria and proposed that such was determined before birth.

SLT states that all behaviour is learned by observing and imitating others. This approach draws attention to the influence of the environment. Gender differences are learned through the differences in the ways boys and girls are treated.

In Smith and Lloyd's (1978) study it was demonstrated that most parental influence is unconscious. Regardless of the gender, the baby was either dressed as a girl or a boy and the mother reinforced stereotypical behaviour.

Gender is developed by identifying with people who model gender behaviour. Identification refers to the process whereby a child attaches himself or herself to a person who is seen to 'be like me'. They are more likely to imitate behaviour of people who they identify with.

Perry and Bussey (1979) showed film clips to children aged 8-9. In the film boys and girls were seen either selecting an apple or a pear. Later the children were given the choice of an apple or a pear. Boys selected the fruit they had seen the boy select and the same happened with the girls.

Cross cultural research is noted for it's valuable contribution to nature-nurture. Margaret Mead carried out a detailed ethnographic study by living in various tribes in New Guinea for 6 months.

• In the Arapesh tribe Mead found that both men and women were feminine. Both male and female took to bed when the female was pregnant.
• In the Mundugamor tribe, both sexes were masculine- assertive, arrogant and fierce. Both didn't like childcare so much the baby was put out of the way in a dark place.
• In the Tchambuli tribe, gender roles were reversed. Females took care of trade and were independent whereas the men sat around gossiping and were considered incapable of making decisions.

Mead's research has been criticised for not seperating her own opinions from her description of Samoan life and for making sweeping generalisations based on a short period of time.

The media provide role models with whom children may identify and want to imitate. Children are likely to select models of the same sex and engage in gender appropriate behaviour. The media may play a role in reinforcing stereotypes.

The media is responsible for perpetuating gender stereotypes, but it also means changing such stereotypes by presenting men or women in unusual roles. Pingree (1978) found that stereotyping was reduced when children were shown commercials with women in non-traditional roles. This has led to pressure on programme makers to try to use this knowledge to alter attitudes.

Gender development occurs as children mature and interact with the environment. According to Kohlberg young children acquire an understanding of gender in three stages-

Gender Identity 2-3 Children correctly identify themselves as a boy or a girl. Most children are able to identify other people as male or female. Children are not aware sex is permanent.

Gender stability 4 The realisation that they will always stay the same gender and this remains consistent over time. Children cannot apply this logic to other people. Confused by external changes in appearance.

Gender constancy 6 Children recognise that gender remains constant and consistent across time and situations and this is applied to other peoples genders.

Slaby and Frey observed children of various stages and their findings supported Kohlberg's theory. Children were shown a film with men on one side and women on the other. Those children who had previously been rated as having greater gender constancy spent more time watching the same gender roles.

However there is conflicting evidence as produced by Martin and Little (1990) who believe Kohlberg was wrong in suggesting children do not understand gender role behaviour until they have achieved constancy. Martin and Little measured gender concepts, sex type preferences and stereotypes in 3-5 year olds. They found that despite having a basic gender understanding they still held gender stereotypes about what boys and girls were permitted to do.

Gender schema is an internal mental representation of the world which is used to make sense of experience. Gender script is an internal mental representation of a set of actions that make up a routine. A gender schema is a generalised representation of everything we know about gender and gender appropriate behaviour.

Martin and Halverson (1983) found that children under the age of six were more likely to remember gender-consistent information than they were gender inconsistent. Researchers showed five and six year olds pictures of people carrying out activities. Sometimes these pictures were schema consistent e.g a girl playing with a doll. Recall for schema consistent was remembered better than schema inconsistent.