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chapter 2
Indicate whether the statement is true or false.
1. According to psychodynamic theories, the first relationship we have fundamentally influences how we define our
gender identity.
a. True
b. False
2. Only women have hormonal cycles that affect their behavior.
a. True
b. False
3. Parents’ roles in children’s gender development are seen as unimportant by cognitive development theory.
a. True
b. False
4. A role is a set of expected behaviors and the values associated with them.
a. True
b. False
5. According to psychodynamic theorists, gender identity becomes fixed early in life.
a. True
b. False
6. Queer theory states that identity categories are limiting and meaningless.
a. True
b. False
7. Heteronormativity is the assumption that heterosexuality is normal and all other sexual identities are also normal.
a. True
b. False
8. Studies indicate that even though women and men use both lobes of the brain, each sex tends to specialize in one.
a. True
b. False
9. Performative theory says that gender is not a thing we have, but is instead a thing we do.
a. True
b. False
10. A theory is a way to describe, explain, and predict relationships among phenomena.
a. True
b. False
Indicate the answer choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
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chapter 2
11. David is a stay-at-home father of two young daughters who attends a “mommy and me” playgroup for young children
and their caregivers. He is the only male caregiver to attend the group. According to standpoint theory, which statement(s)
best explain(s) this scenario?
a. As members of different genders, David and the female caregivers have developed different ways of thinking about
parenting, different techniques for parenting, and different skills for parenting.
b. David and the mothers’ viewpoints are limited and partial.
c. David may view parenting differently from the mothers’ perspectives based on their different standpoints.
d. It would be possible for David and the mothers in the group to work to understand the others’s standpoints.
e. All of the choices are correct.
12. According to Standpoint theory
a. People with the most social privilege are most likely to develop an oppositional stance toward existing power
structures.
b. People who are privileged in some ways but disadvantaged in others are most likely to develop an oppositional
stance toward existing power structures.
c. People with the least social privilege are most likely to develop an oppositional stance toward existing power
structures.
d. No group is more likely than another to develop an oppositional stance toward existing power structures.
13. Which of the following is generally true?
a. Most women use only the right lobe of their brain.
b. Most men use only the left lobe of their brain.
c. Most men’s brains are more highly integrated than most women’s brains.
d. None of these choices are correct.
14. Kate explains, “When I was a little girl, I always wanted to be outside playing and getting dirty. However, my mom
dressed me in fussy clothes with lots of ruffles and bows, and dressy shoes that were hard to play in. If I did manage to go
outside and I got my clothes and shoes dirty, my mom would be upset with me. I hated wearing those clothes, but I saw
how happy it made my mom when I wore them and kept them clean, so I kept on wearing them.”
a. Social learning theory
b. Cognitive development theory
c. Queer theory
d. Symbolic interactionism
e. Standpoint theory
15. At age 3, Bonnie realizes she is female and she wants to become skilled at being a girl. She begins to watch her
mother and older sister and to model her behaviors after theirs. Bonnie’s efforts to learn how to act feminine are best
explained by which theory?
a. Cognitive development
b. Social learning
c. Psychodynamic (or psychoanalytic)
d. Biological
16. Research into female hormones indicates that estrogen:
a. causes women’s bodies to produce “good” cholesterol and to make blood vessels flexible.
b. strengthens the immune system, making women less susceptible to immune disorders, infections and viruses.
c. causes more fat tissue to form around a woman’s hips, providing cushioning for a fetus during pregnancy.
d. causes the liver to process alcohol more slowly, making women quicker to feel the effects of alcohol.
e. All of the choices are correct.
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17. When parents who seek to promote traditional gendered behaviors in their children reward tomboys for wearing frilly
dresses or punish effeminate boys for playing with Barbies, they are assuming which theory of gender?
a. Biological theory
b. Psychodynamic theory
c. Social learning theory
d. Symbolic interaction theory
18. Which of the following is/are true of queer theory?
a. Queer theory critiques what we consider to be normal and abnormal.
b. Queer theory applies to only gay people, not heterosexual people.
c. Queer theory focuses on sexuality as the most important identity marker.
d. Queer theory advocates for more defined identity categories.
19. Children learn who they are and what that means in their culture through interaction with parents, teachers, and
friends. Through this, they learn gender roles for men and women and may internalize them. Which theory does this
definition best describe?
a. Cognitive development
b. Social learning
c. Psychodynamic (or psychoanalytic)
d. Biological
e. Symbolic interactionism
20. Gender constancy
21. Biological theory
Instructions: Identify the following:
22. Queer Theory
23. Psychodynamic theory
24. Cognitive development theory
25. Gender schema theory
26. Social learning theory
27. Symbolic interaction theory
28. Gender schema
29. Biological theories attribute some aspects of masculinity and femininity to the differences between male and female
bodies. Yet, the author of your textbook notes that biological differences between women and men are quite small and do
not explain most behavioral differences. How should the relationship between biology and gender be understood?
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chapter 2
30. Using an example from your own life or experience, describe an example of social learning theory in action. Be sure
to give sufficient detail from the theory and your experience.
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Answer Key
1. True
2. False
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chapter 2
identities within a relationship since they identify with their mothers and boys tend to define themselves by differentiating
themselves from their mothers.
24. Children select models to teach themselves how to be competent at masculine or feminine behaviors. Children are
viewed as active learners. Children develop gender constancy, usually by age three, when they understand they are male
or female and that this will not change.
25.
According to gender schema theory, even before reaching the first birthday, an infant distinguishes between male and
female faces and voices. By the age of two, gender schema theorists claim that children begin to organize their
understandings of gender into coherent wholes.
26. Children learn appropriate behaviors through reinforcement from others. Since children prefer rewards to neutral
responses or punishments, they will repeat behaviors reinforced by others as appropriate for their gender. Children are
viewed as relatively passive learners.
27. Symbolic interactionism claims that through communication with others we learn who we are and how our culture
views our identity. Parents and other people tell the child who she or he is through their communication with him/her.
28. A gender schema is an internal mental framework that organizes perceptions and directs behavior related to gender.
29. Although researchers dispute the extent to which biology affects gender, virtually no one argues that biology is
irrelevant. At the same time, it is also clear that biology does not direct or determine behaviors. Rather, biology and
environmental factors work together in complex ways. For example, although men have far more testosterone, which
contributes to muscle development, a physically inactive boy may not develop strong muscles whereas a physically active
girl may become quite muscular.
30. Answers will vary based on students’ experiences. However, the answers should include the idea that we learn what is
appropriate or acceptable based on behaving a certain way and then being punished or rewarded for it.