Psych of Gender Test 1

How do we learn about gender-related behavior according to social learning theory? Use an example to illustrate your answer.

According to social learning theory, we learn about gender-related behavior based on observational learning or modeling. This means that children learn about their gender roles and develop and understanding of how they are supposed to act through watching role models and authority figures in their life. A little girl could learn through watching her mother that she is supposed to cook for the family and be nurturing to her children. A specific example would be that a little girl could learn how to take care of her baby doll by watching her mother take care of her younger sibling.

One stereotype about gender is that men are more aggressive than women and women are more nurturing and caring than men. Be prepared to explain that difference using any 2 theoretical perspectives that I provide.

Biological, Evolutionary, Psychoanalytic, social learning, gender-role socialization, social role, cognitive development, gender schema.

What are the 3 dimensions used to classify men's and women's style of language use? Be sure to define each type and who uses that type more (men or women).

Direct vs indirect-this would indicate how to the point the language is. men's language is more direct because they use directives. Women use more indirect language because they ask questions, and use qualifiers and hedges. Succinct or elaborative-How descriptive the language is. women use longer sentences and more adjectives when they speak. Men use more succinct language, as their sentences are shorter and to the point. Instrumental or affective-the emotionality of the language. Men's use of quantities in their language is instrumental and women's use of emotion words is more effective.

Pick any one difference between men's and women's communication styles. Then explain that difference, first using status theory and then using social roles theory.

Direct vs. indirect: Status theory-if a male uses less qualifiers or hedges, it is difficult to tell whether this is due to status or sex. A less powerful person tends to use more hedges and qualifiers and less assertive language than a more powerful person. Women are typically not in the same positions of power as men, which could indicate why there are differences between the sexes. According to social roles theory, women are said to talk in ways that reflect emphasis on their relationships. Men are said to talk in ways that are less facilitative of relationships. Women's indirect language may reflect their attention to relationships. Male direct language does not indicate as much attention to relationships.

What does the term essentialism refer to in the study of gender? What is a gender maximalist? Minimalist?

Essentialism is the belief that things have a set of characteristics that make them what they are. It terms of gender, this would mean that men and women are put into set categories, each having their own set characteristics. Gender maximalists are those who believe that there are differences between men and women; however, they do not believe that these differences create a deficit on either side. They do not believe that men are better than women, just that they are different. Gender minimalists believe there are very few differences between men and women. They also believe that these differences can be attributed to the situation or to the role in which the person is in.

How does the theory of evolutionary psychology explain differences between women and men in sexual behavior and mate selection?

Evolutionary psychology explains this difference in reasons of survival. A woman in prehistoric times would have needed a man who could provide for her. She would have needed a man who could bring home food and provide money (or whatever would have served as money then). She would have needed this in order to increase the chances of survival for herself and her offspring. A man in prehistoric times would have needed a woman who was young (a sign of fertility) and able to take care of his offspring. He would want to have as many children as possible with this woman in order to increase the survivability of his genes.

What is the evidence for and against a "fear of success" in women? What might be one way to study the issue today?

Fear of success is the association of negative consequences with achievement (in women). Evidence for this theory is Horner's study. In Horner's study, she found that 65% of women associated a woman at the top of her class with a negative story. However, 90% of men associated positive things with success. Evidence against this could be seen in a study which found that women's "fear of success" could actually be attributed to a woman's belief that she can either be smart or social and that she can't have both. One way to study this today would be to measure the amount of women who have lied about the test scores or to measure the amount of women who have turned down upper level jobs.

What is gender role strain? Describe an example of gender role strain for women and an example for men.

Gender-role strain occurs when gender-role expectations have negative consequences for the individual. This often occurs when the beliefs and desires of someone conflict with the gender expectations. An example of this for a man might be not being associated with a high-status category. Being in a low status category would place a lot of strain on the typical male gender role. An example of this for women might be the fear of behaving assertively. Assertiveness is seen as a male typical trait, so being assertive might can strain on the female gender role.

Your friend says to you, "women are so much more emotional than men." As a student of gender research, how would you respond?

I would argue women are not much more emotional than men. There are no consistent findings that one sex is more emotional than the other. Both men and women have similar emotional experiences. However, there is some data to show that women simply recall their emotions better than men. There is also some data that indicated that women express more positive emotions than men and that men express more negative emotion.

Describe the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) and discuss any one of its strengths and any one of its weaknesses.

The BSRI was developed by having undergraduate students rate how desirable it is for a man or women to have specific traits. Out of 400 traits, traits that were considered desirable for a man were ranked as masculine and traits that were considered desirable for a female were considered feminine. One advantage of this system is that it allows for us to determine someone's masculinity or femininity. One disadvantage is that this system only based off of how desirable certain traits are, not whether or not they are actually possessed.

Briefly describe how gender role stereotypes can be both descriptive and prescriptive. Use an example to illustrate your response.

The descriptive component of gender role stereotypes is what identifies the features of the stereotype. These would be the specific characteristics of what a male or female is supposed to be. An example of this would be that the characteristic of being nurturing is one that is typically possessed more by females. The prescriptive component of gender roles is how we think someone ought to behave based on their gender. This is what often puts pressure on individuals to conform to gender roles. An example of this would be that a stay-at-home dad is not behaving in the way that he should.

Discuss the idea that there is actually a great distribution overlap on many gender differences

The idea that there is actually a great overlap in distribution of gender differences basically indicates that there are few differences between the genders. Little to no overlap in a chart would indicate that there is a large difference. Large overlap indicates that the averages for males and females are very close, and that the differences between the two genders are minimal. This is commonly seen when comparing math capabilities between the genders. It is often believed that males have greater math abilities; however, distributions show a great overlap. That would indicate that females have just as good of math abilities as males.

Describe how the nature of the task can affect self-confidence. Provide an example to illustrate your answer.

The nature of the task can affect self confidence because people generally feel more comfortable performing tasks at which they believe they will succeed. Females usually believe that they will perform better at feminine tasks, whereas males usually believe they will perform better at masculine tasks. An example of this would be that fifth grade girls do not perform as well in STEM related fields because they do not believe that they will do as well.

Most studies on gender-role stereotypes have been conducted on Caucasian, middle-class adults, typically college students. In what ways have these samples limited the research?

These samples have limited research because it has been proved that there are differences in abilities between races and socio-economic status. Not sampling a wide range of participants can skew results. A large difference could have been shown, that might not have actually been present if all ages, races, and socio-economic status were represented.

What is intersexuality? How does it complicate our culture's pattern of creating dichotomous categories for sex? What are the advantages of a more complicated view of sex and gender? Disadvantages?

Intersexuality occurs when a person is born is ambiguous genitals. Intersex people usually have surgery to assign them a biological sex. This complicated our culture's pattern of creating dichotomous categories because if the child does not receive surgery to make them biologically fit into a sex category, then they will probably be viewed negatively. You report the child's sex when they enter school, when they go to the doctor, etc. Advantages of a more complicated view of sex and gender would be that an intersexed individual would be able to choose their own sex. Children would not have to worry about fitting in with gender norms, and people could simply behave in ways that they like. Disadvantages would be that likely not all people would accept this view, creating complications. Our culture is also very specific when it comes to male and female, and a lot of change would occur if a more complicated view was adopted.

What is meant by the term gender? What is meant by the term sex? Why is the term "gender" preferred in Psychology?

Sex refers to biological makeup. One's sex chromosomes, hormones, and genitalia determine whether the child is of male or female sex. Gender is a more psychological concept. It refers to one's characteristics or behaviors. Gender is also categorized into male and female, but it is socially constructed. Gender is referred to in psychology because it is the psychological term. It has to do with how a person feels in comparison to society's standards.

What is stereotype threat? How does it seem to impair performance? What strategies seem to diminish its influence?

Stereotype threat is a fear of fitting into a stereotype. This seems to impair performance because those affected by stereotype threat have a difficult time focusing on things other than the impending stereotype. If a woman felt that she was affected by stereotype threat, an example might be that a man told her she could not enter the tech field, as it did not fit her gender role. This would affect performance when this woman worried that she may never enter the IT field because she is a woman. One strategy that decreases its effect is unstable attribution. This is when something occurs that shows the effected group that the stereotype is mostly false.