Sex and Gender

 Sex = biological (innate) – biologically determined by genetic make-up e.g. chromosomes (XX =
female, XY = male)
o Chromosomes – influence hormonal/anatomical differences between male/female like
reproductive organs etc
 Gender = psychosocial (nurture) – masculine/feminine, what you identify as, a social construct
 Gender dysphoria (GD) – a mismatch between a person’s sex + the gender they think they are
o Gender reassignment surgery – allows you to bring their sexual identity in line with their
gender identity

Sex-role stereotypes
 = social expectations – sex-role stereotypes are shared by a culture/social group + consist of the
expectations they have concerning males/females
o May be transmitted to other cultures
 May be inaccurate to reality – these stereotypes can lead to sexism + damaging attitudes, also can’t
be applied to everyone
 Sex-role stereotypes in media – Furnham + Farragher found men are more likely to be shown in
autonomous roles in professional settings whist women are often in domestic roles
o Media reinforces stereotypes
 Androgyny
Androgyny – a balance between masculine + feminine characteristics, appearance is not male or female

 A positive attribute – Bem found that high androgyny is linked with psychological well-being + are
better at adaptation

Strengths
Gender identity is measured quantitively -> Ben’s
numerical approach = good to quantify dependent
variable
 Spence suggested a qualitative approach is
better -> combine different scale (PAQ) for
expressivity
o Quantitative with qualitative approaches
is useful to study aspects of gender
identity
BSRI = valid + reliable
 Developed scale, used 50 males/females who
judges 200 traits in terms of gender desirability -
> BSRI showed their gender identity accurately
 1 month later, test was done on a smaller sample
– similar scores = reliable
o Valid + reliable
o Trying to show that you don’t need to be feminine or masculine, can be both/a mixture
Weaknesses
May lack insight into gender identity
 Gender = social construct -> open to
interpretation unlike sex
 Scoring system is subjective + ppts’ application
to scale may differ
o BSRI may not be a scientific way to
assess gender identity
-> Counter point – lack of temporal validity, culture bias
 stereotypical ideas of masc/fem has changed +
test was devised by a panel that are all from the
US

The Bem Sex Role Inventory 1974 (BSRI)

Items on BSRI are Masculine = dominant, competitive, athletic
masculine/ Feminine = gentle, affectionate, sympathetic
feminine/ neutral Neutral = applies to masc/fem traits equally
60 questions + a 7 20 people in each gender category
point scale Ppts rated each trait from 1-7
Masc + fem Higher scores for masc traits = masc
categorisation Higher scores on fem traits = fem
Androgynous and High scores in both masc + fem traits = androgynous
undifferentiated Low scores in both masc + fem traits = undifferentiated
categorisation
 The Role of Chromosomes and Hormones

(Male hormones e.g.

testosterone)

Strengths
Evidence supports the role of testosterone
 Wang – gave hypogonadal men testosterone
therapy for 80 days
 It improved sexual libido/mood + muscle strength
o Testosterone exert influence on male
sexual/physical behaviour
David Reimer – gender down to nature
 His chromosomes outweighed his attempts to
socialise as a girl
o Biology exert influence on gender
Weaknesses
Ignores social factors
 Hofstede – gender roles are more linked to
culture/social norms than biology
 Individualistic countries regard competition
and independence as the norm
o Social norms may have influence in
gender behaviour rather than biology
Reductionist
 Suggests that hormones + chromosomes are
responsible for gender related behaviour
o Ignores other interpretations – less
valid/reliable
 Atypical Gender Development

Strengths
Biological pov - There may be other brain differences
 Rametti - observed brain of transgender
males/female before hormone treatment
o White matter corresponded to the gender a
person identified with than sex
 Early differences in the brains of
transgender people
Social pov - Evidence of more than two gender roles
 Some cultures recognise more than two genders (eg
Samoa)
 More people are non-binary etc, cultural changes
matched the lived experience of many
o GD and gender identity are best seen as a
social construct rather than a biological fact
Gender Dysphoria – when a person experiences discomfort since there is a mismatch between their
assigned sex and their gender identity
Weaknesses
Biological pov - Brain sex assumptions have been
challenged
 Hulshoff scanned transgender brains during
hormone treatment – size of BST changed
 Kruijiver + Zhou looked at BST post mortem
after hormone treatment
o Differences in BST may have been an
effect of hormone therapy instead of
GD
Social pov - Issues with the psychoanalytical theory
 Ovesey + Person don’t explain GD in females,
only applies to transgender females
o Not reliable/generalisable

Biological Explanations: Social Explanations:

Brain sex theory - the brain structure of those with GD does not
match their genetic sex.
 Bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST) is involved in
emotional responses and male sexual behaviour in rats
o Area is larger in men and is female-sized
transgender females (Kruijiver)
o Those with GD have a BST size of the gender
they identify with
o Agrees with Zhou et al – transgendered people
feel they were born in the wrong sex at an early
age
Genetic basis (indicated in twin studies)
 Coolidge et al studied 157 twin pairs (MZ + DZ suggest
that 62% of these cases could be accounted for by
genetic variance
 Heylens et al found that 9 of their sample of MZ twins
were concordant with GD, but none of DZs were.
Social constructionist pov – gender identity is
invented by societies (a social construct). GD arise
because of people having to choose a gender
- Dysphoria is not pathological (mental
disorder) but due to social factors
 McClintock studied biological males in New
Guinea born with female genitals – a
condition
o At puberty, the genitals changed –
considered abnormal
Psychoanalytical Theory
 Ovesey + Person suggested that GD in males
are caused by separation anxiety before gender
identity was established
o Boy fantasised about a symbiotic
fusion with mother to relieve anxiety
+ remove fear of separation
o Boy ‘becomes’ the mother and adopts
female gender identity
 Stoller found GD in males did describe overly
close relationships with mothers that would
lead to greater female identification +
confused gender identity in the long term
 Atypical Sex Chromosome Patterns
Atypical sex chromosomes patterns – any set of sex chromosomes patterns that deviates from the usual
XX/XY
Klinefelter’s syndrome – males with the pattern XXY rather than XY, 1 in 600 males have it
- Physical effects = tallness, underdeveloped genitals, breast development, lack in body hair
- Psychological effects – being passive, shy and having poor language development

Turner’s syndrome – Females where there

is only one X (XO) chromosome instead of
XX, 1 in 5000 females have it
- Physical effects = small stature,
webbed neck, and underdeveloped
ovaries
- Psychological effects = higher than
average reading ability, poor peer
relationships, visual memory +
maths skills

Why study these chromosomal

abnormalities?

 Can compare people with typical sex chromosome patterns (XX, XY) to people with atypical (XO,
XXY, XYY) sex chromosome patterns
 Inferences can be made on whether differences in gender may be biological/chromosomal which
helps to develop the argument about whether gender is as a result of nature or nurture

Strengths
Contributes to the nature-nurture debate
 Comparing chromosome a/typical people shows
physical/psychological differences
 These differences may have a biological basis and are
a direct result of the abnormal chromosomal structure
o Innate ‘nature’ influences have a powerful
effect on psychology + behaviour
Its application to managing the conditions
 Continued research into atypical sex chromosome
patters leads to earlier/more accurate diagnostics +
positive outcomes
 A study of Klinefelter’s syndrome showed that those
who were diagnosed young benefitted the managing
of their condition
o Increased awareness of these conditions have
real-world application
Weaknesses
Behavioural differences may result from social influences
 Social immaturity in Turner’s may be due to the
way they were treated for their immature
appearance
o Could be wrong to assume
psychological/behavioural differences with
those with atypical sex chromosome
patterns are due to nature
Reductionist
 Reduces the reason of people’s behaviour down to
chromosomes
o Doesn’t consider other interpretations

Other explanations of gender development – Psychodynamic Theory

Focuses on the importance of early childhood experiences + that it has an influence on adulthood

 Events that occur in childhood can remain in the unconscious + cause problems as adults
  Freud proposed children go through 5 stages of psychosexual development: oral, anal, phallic,
latent, genital.
o Pre-phallic stage - Before 3yrs, gender identity is flexible – no clear difference between girl
+ boy, Children have no sense of being masculine or feminine
o Phallic stage – children experience the Oedipus (for boys) and Electra complex (for girls)

Oedipus Complex: Electra Complex:

= incestuous desire for mother, jealous for father = Mother is rival, blamed for castration

Boys recognise that the father is more powerful + fear
that he will castrate the son (and experience castration
anxiety)
The boy adopts attitudes/values of their father, girls
adopts those of her mother
Girls feel competition with their mother for their father’s
love
Penis envy - Resent their mother as girls believe they are
responsible for not having a penis

Little Hans:

Resolution through identification: 5 years old, phobia of horses

 Castration anxiety and desires are resolved when
the boy gives up his love for his mother + identifies
with his father
 Girls acknowledge they will never have a penis that
they desire, substitutes desire with wanting their
own children = identifies with mother + her gender
Freud thought this fear was due to the fear of
being castrated by his father because of his love
for the mother
Hans transferred his fear of his father onto horses
via displacement (defence mechanism)

Strengths
Support for Oedipus Complex
 Freud’s theory suggests normal development in boys
depends on being raised by at least one male parent
 Researchers rated gender identity of boys (3-11yrs),
majority of those that were ‘gender disturbed’ had no
father
o Being raised with no father may have a
negative impact on gender identity – supports
Freud’s theory
Weaknesses
Does not fully explain female development
 Freud’s ideas reflected the patriarchal society he
lived in, researchers suggest womb envy was more
prominent
o Challenges the idea that female gender
development was founded on a desire to be
like men
Pseudoscientific
 Freud used case studies for his research, many
concepts (penis envy) is untestable
o Not based on sound scientific evidence

Kohlberg’s Cognitive Explanation

Cognitive-developmental - it shares the view that a child’s mental concept of gender becomes more
sophisticated with age
Stage of Age of development Description
development
- Can identify their own sex
Gender identity 2-3 yrs
- Can identify the sex of others
 - Understand that they will always be a
Gender stability 3-4 yrs
girl/boy
- Understand that gender is constant
Gender 5-7 yrs
- Doesn’t matter if a boy wear a dress, still
constancy
a boy

Gender constancy = the start of a search for gender-appropriate role models to identify and imitate

- Kohlberg suggests that once the child has a fully developed and internalised concept of gender at the
constancy stage they look for evidence to confirm it, gender stereotyping occurs then

Strengths
Supporting research evidence
 Damon – told children a story of George who liked
to play with dolls and asked them their opinions
 4 yrs old said it was fine, 6 yr olds thought it was
wrong (they had developed rules about what each
sex ought to do = gender stereotyping)
o Children who achieved the constancy stage
formed rigid stereotypes of gender-
appropriate behaviour
Supporting gender stability
 Slaby and Frey - Asked young children questions
e.g. "were you a little girl or little boy when you
were a baby?" + "when you grow up will you be a
mummy or daddy?"
 The children’s answers showed that they did not
recognise that these traits were stable over time,
until they reached 3/4 years old.
o Supports gender stability stage, only
understood that their gender stays the same
when they were 3/4yrs, this is when the
stage typically starts
Weaknesses
Kohlberg’s theory = may be inappropriate for some children
 May over-state the similarities between children and
the age ranges may be inappropriate for some
children (individual differences between children is
not explored).
o Oversimplifies the behaviours of children
Beta bias & lacks temporal validity
 Guilty of beta bias and so assumes the development
for boys and girls must be similar/same.
 Lacks temporal validity and ideas about gender and
gender roles that he suggested would be different to
modern views.
o Reduces the reliability and validity of
research
 Gender Schema Theory
Gender schema – organised set of beliefs and expectations about gender which guides gender-appropriate behaviour

Gender Identity – only is needed for the development of gender schema. Contrasts with Kohlberg’s view that this
process only begins after they have reached gender constancy

Schema directs behaviour and understanding – likely to be formed around stereotypes + these direct experience as
well as the child’s understanding of themselves
- Children misremember/disregard info that does not fit with their schema

Martin + Halverson agree with Kohlberg that the child’s thinking is at the basis of their development of gender role
behaviours
- They suggest that children’s understanding of gender increases with age
- Share the view that children develop understanding of gender by actively structuring their own learning rather
than observing/imitating role models
Ingroup - the group you identify with
- Ingroup identity serves to increase the child’s level of self- You tend to neglect/ignore the outgroup
esteem and don’t pay much attention to them
Outgroup – the group that you don’t identify with
Children go on to develop scripts of activities and/or actions that males + female perform (women make dinner, men
fix cars
Children monitor their environment for info and behaviours that are consistent with their ideas of appropriate male
and female behaviour and add/assimilate this info into their thinking
If a behaviour is inconsistent, they may ignore it so their schemas are not altered – they need to be able to predict
behaviour + stereotypes allow them to do this

Strengths
GST support
 Martin + Halverson – found children under 6yrs were
more likely to recall gender-appropriate photos than
gender-inappropriate ones when tested a week later
 Children changed the gender of the person doing gender-
inappropriate activity when asked to recall them
o GST says that children under 6yrs would do this
GST can account for cultural differences
 Cherry – argues gender schema influences what counts
as culturally-appropriate behaviour
 Societies with less rigid boundaries often have children
with non-standard gender stereotypes
o Explains cultural differences
Weaknesses
This theory can’t explain why some children respond differently to
gender-appropriate behaviours
 For example, it can’t explain why some girls prefer action
figures and some boys prefer dolls -> Researchers
speculate this may be due to possible biological
differences such as genes and hormones
o Questions reliability of the theory
Ignores biological/social interaction factors

SLT and Gender Development

Differential reinforcement:

Explains why boys + girls learn different

gender behaviours

- They are reinforced for having

different behaviours – more
likely to reproduce
 Strengths
Differential reinforcement support
 Smith + Lloyd – observed adults with babies aged 4-6
months, dressed them half the time as girls and half the
time as boys
 Babies assumed to be boys were encouraged to be
adventurous + active, those assumed to be girls were
encouraged to be passive/praised for being pretty and
were given a doll
o Gender appropriate behaviour is stamped at an
early age through differential reinforcement
SLT can explain cultural differences
 There is more androgyny in modern society than the past
 The shift in cultural norms means new forms of gender
are more unlikely to be punished + may be reinforced
o Social learning may be better at explaining
gender behaviour
Weaknesses
SLT doesn’t explain the developmental process
 Modelling can occur at any age
 It’s illogical to say 2 year olds learn in the same way as 9
year olds
o Shows the influence of age + maturation on
gender learning concepts is not considered by
SLT
Demand characteristics – Smith + Lloyd
 Adults may be acting in a certain way because they knew
the aims of the lab experiment
o Research may not be very reliable not
generalisable
 The Influence of Culture and Media on Gender Roles
Culture and Gender roles:

Nature vs nurture debate: whether psychological traits are caused by innate or environmental factors
- Universal features suggests an innate basis for gender and support the nature view
- Culturally specific features would suggests that gender is learned and support the nuture view.

The role of nurture: Mead’s research on cultural groups in Samoa supported cultural determination of gender roles
- Arapesh were gentle and responsible – similar to femininity
- Mundugumor were aggressive – similar to masculinity
- Tchambuli were dominant + organised village life, men = passive/decorative (reverse in industrialised societies)
The role of nature: Buss found consistent mate preferences in 37 countries studied across all continents, in all cultures:
- Women sought men with wealth + resources
- Men looked for youth and physical attractiveness

Media and Gender roles:

- Children are more likely to imitate role models who are the same-sex as them + engage in gender appropriate behaviour
- Media creates rigid stereotypes - Bandura + Bussey found this:
o Men are independent + ambitious
o Women are dependent + unambitious
- Furnham + Faragher found men are often in autonomous roles in professional contexts + women are in familial roles in
domestic settings
- Media increases self-efficacy (the belief that you are capable of performing certain behaviours) – seeing other people
perform gender appropriate behaviours increases a child’s self efficacy
o Mitra – girls in India who watched a programme challenging gender stereotypes were more likely to
believe that they are capable of working outside the home compared to non-viewers

Strengths
Influence of culture has research support
 In industrialised countries, changing expectations of women
are a function of their active role in the workplace
 In traditional societies, women are still house-makers as a
result of societal pressures
o Gender roles can be determined by social contexts
Media influence has a theoretical basis
 The more time people spend on media, the more they
believe it reflects social reality
 Bond + Drogas – a positive correlation between time spent
watching Jersey Shore + open-minded attitudes towards
casual sex
o Media cultivates our perception of reality and this
affects gender behaviour (eg, sex behaviour)
Weaknesses
Mead’s research has been criticised
 Freeman studied the Samoan people after Mead, said that
Mead was misled
 Said Mead’s preconceptions influenced her reading of events
(observer bias + ethnocentrism)
o Mead’s interpretation may not be objective
There may not be a causal relationship
 Durkin – young children are not recipients of media
messages, family norms have a bigger influence
 If media representations confirm gender roles in the family it
is reinforced
o Media is a secondary influence after family norms